A total of 19 entertain­ment facilities and restau­rants in two regions have been fined GH¢475,000 for flouting the law that prohibits smoking at public places.

The facilities including pubs, night clubs, and rec­reational centres located in Greater Accra and Central Regions were sanctioned to pay GH¢25,000 each.

This follows a three-day night surveillance by personnel of Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ghana Police Service, in Tema and Accra in Greater Accra Region, and Kasoa in the Central Region.

The operation was to ensure public health safety at public places.

The smoke-free law, pro­hibits smoking at public places such as indoor public spaces, workplaces, public transport and recreational areas, to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke.

The Director of Tobacco and Substance Abuse of the FDA, Dr Olivia Agyekumwaa Boateng, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times in Accra, on Friday.

She said the team visited 51 facilities, and 19 of them were captured on videos and photo­graph with clients violating the smoke-free law.

Dr Boateng stated that an administrative fine of GH¢25,000 had been imposed on each facili­ty found culpable.

“A person who contravenes any part of the Public Health Act 2012, part six, is liable to a fine more than 750 penalty units (fine GH¢9000) or a term of impris­onment of not more than three years. In the case of a continuing offence, additional fine of 10 penalty units applies for each day during which the offence contin­uous. An administrative charge of GH¢25,000 as per fees and charges,” she added.

Dr Boateng stressed the need to protect the environment, stat­ing that secondhand smoke poses serious health danger to non­smokers and had been classified as a “Toxic Air Contaminant’ so smoke free laws promotes clearer and safer environment.

“Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause various health issues, including respiratory infections, asthma, heart diseases, stroke, lung cancer and sudden infant syndrome among others,” she added.

Dr Boateng said as part of efforts to reduce smoking in the country, the FDA had embarked on a one-year project nationwide, to intensify advocacy on the need to stop smoking at public places.

Dr Boateng explained that per the project on smoke free, research was currently ongoing on policies, and communication materials had also been devel­oped in local languages, to ensure the reduction of public smoking in the country.

She said the FDA had been educating stakeholders such as hoteliers, and the Ghana Tourism Authority on laws and policies on smoking.

Dr Boateng said according to the Tobacco Altas report, more than 6,700 Ghanaians die every year due to tobacco-related illness.

Dr Boateng asked smokers to stop the practice, adding that tobacco-related illness accounted for 3 per cent of all deaths in the country.

He gave the assurance that the FDA would continue to pro­mote public health safety, and called on the public to collabo­rate with the outfit by reporting smoking at unauthorised places.