THE country's eight health boards have joined the opposition to the claim by a US tobacco company that passive smoking is not dangerous.
The Office for Health Gain a project run in partnership by all the health boards, said there was "a lot of published medical evidence" about the dangers of inhaling carcinogens from passive smoking.
It welcomed the call from the European Commissioner, Mr Padraig Flynn, for a strong counter response to what he called "a misleading campaign by Philip Morris Europe SA. The company's campaign included a full page advertisement in The Irish Times and other newspapers earlier this month.