Madam, – Congratulations to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin for being the first of the newly designated cancer centres to make their campus completely smoke-free as and from January 1st. Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, a leader in the international health-promoting hospital movement, have also indicated that they will make their hospital campus smoke-free from May 31st, 2009.
These are important developments as they send a very clear message to patients, staff and the public that smoking, the single biggest cause of cancer in the world today, and a killer of some 6,000 Irish people every year, has no place in a health environment dedicated to curing the very diseases it causes.
The challenge now is for all other healthcare institutions, especially the other seven designated cancer centres, to follow the true leadership shown by staff in these two hospitals and to make their campuses smoke-free. – Yours, etc,