Erstellt am: 20. 8. 2014 - 11:01 Uhr

"The Smoking Ban Is Coming"

At the health symposium at the European Forum Alpbach, the (still) Austrian health minister Stöger preaches that prevention is better than a cure.

On the eve of his departure, Alois Stöger, the Austrian health minister, found decisive words: "There will be no more smoking in Austrian gastronomy" the Social Democrats' Minister announced in the Congress Centre at the European Forum in Alpbach yesterday.

It was the sentence that the Austrian medics of the Ärtzeverband have been longing to hear for years.

Prevention not cure was one of the major themes of his address on the future of the Austrian Health System in Alpach, but with Stöger as health minister Austria has consistently placed last in the Tobacco Control Scale's list of 34 European countries trying the discourage tobacco use, a habit which is estimated to kill tens of thousands of Austrians every year including hundreds of passive smokers.

But there were two small catches in Stöger’s speech. Firstly he was speculating about the situation of the Austrian health system in distant 2025, two decades after Ireland adopted its ban, and secondly it became clear this week that Stöger will not be the politician to decide on any ban. He is expected to move to the infrastructure portfolio in the coming days in a cabinet reshuffle.

Philipp Naderer / European Forum Alpbach

But he is leaving with a rallying call for a healthier, happier Austria. Outside the futuristicaly glass Congress Centre in Alpach I asked Stöger what priorities he saw for better Austrian health care by 2025? “The most important change is a paradigm change that will replace a system designed to deal with illness with a system designed to promote health. We have already begun on the path,” he told me.

He admitted that the failure to curb tobacco consumption had been a regret of his time as health minister but he blamed the coalition partners. “I regret that we are the tail-light in Europe in terms of protection from to effects of tobacco. I have said clearly that this situation is not acceptable. I have made that clear to our coalition partners and I am glad that they have agreed that the time is rife for a smoking ban. But it will take a while for the legislation to be implemented.”

So how can a government promote a healthier lifestyle without becoming an over-invasive “nanny state”?

“The government can do a lot and we have started. It is about working with institutions to set health targets. It’s about changing the atmosphere in which people live or work in order to facilitate healthy choices. It is about informing people about healthy diets and helping access to healthy food.”

He says his ministry has worked with other governmental departments to try and promote more active lifestyles, for example cycling. “It’s about education but it is also about urban planning.” He doesn’t see this as governmental overreach. “It is about creating the right framework for healthy lifestyles, it is not about telling people what they should do.”

chris cummins

Nick Fahy, a British EU Health Policy Expert agrees.“I think it is all about helping people make choices rather that forcing choices on them,” says. “There are so many choices that are made for us by, for example, food companies or by the environments that we live in: whether we can walk somewhere. Choices are being made for us all the time by the environment in which we live. I think there is a role for governments in making sure that people actually have the information that they need to make choices that are healthy for them.”

"Information Doesn't Affect Your Freedom"

Governments should try not the be too forbearing in the realm of their citizens private lives, but pitched with the seduction of advertising by the producers of sugar-laden foods, Fahy believes they can’t afford to be too laissez-faire.

He brings the example of calories listed besides options on a menu. “It doesn’t affect your freedom,” he insists: “You can still eat what you like but if you do what to pay attention to what the calories are then the information is available.

Your Freedom Ends When You Impact the Lives of Others"

But isn’t telling people to refrain from smoking in indoor shared spaces such as gastronomic businesses telling people what to do? Is it, to use the Austrian phrase, a case of Bevormundung?

“Well there I think the key difference is that your actions have an impact on other people, including the other people working in that space. The impact of the health of gastronomy workers is very clear.”

"Governmental Action Is Appropriate."

He also says the evidence is now available that “people across Europe enjoy smoke free environments”. In Britain, for example, public houses (pubs) for example have become cross-generational meeting places – the living rooms of the nation. There are more children and less aggression. Smoking, by it invasive nature, excludes people rather than including them in social gatherings. And smoking, particularly, among young people has gone out of fashion. “So in this instance,” concludes Fahy, “I do believe governmental action is entirely appropriate.”

Spend Now, Save Later

Governments, says Nahy, have to put their money where there mouth is. Promoting cycling, for example, costs money. In his home country, Britain, the Cycle To Work Scheme has seen public money subsidise the purchase of cycle equipment for commuters. But Nahy says those costs are recuperated elsewhere. “There is a lot of evidence that physical exercise helps overcome depression and mental illness. To put it bluntly if we are a bit active, we are a bit happier.”

chris cummins

"Government isn't separate from us"

So by investing in health-inducing infrastructure, the costs of health care are reduced down the line. But it is not just a story of cents and euros. It helps people enjoy happier lives. It helps them stay engaged with the society around them. Government isn’t separate from us. Government is what we as a society decide to do. We should decide to do things which help us live happier lives.”