Source: Radio Australia Author: 07/17/2008
Subject Concerned: Airlines
The Australian Medical Association has criticised a decision by Qantas to trial the sale of cigarettes on its international flights.
The president of the association, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, says after all the work of the anti-smoking lobby, it is a retrograde step.
"We've worked really hard in Australia to educate people not to smoke, to try and remove the perverse influences that encourage people to smoke," she said.
"We've had a good result with an improvement to health outcomes and the saving of lives. For Qantas to take this step, seems to be a backward, a retrograde step."
On July 16, anti-smoking lobby groups said they were extremely disappointed with the Qantas decision.
The airline says it is offering them in its inflight duty-free store because of increased demand.