Jump to full article: New Statesman (uk), 2009-11-06
Author: Dr Sean Carey
Intro: The entrepreneur discusses his philanthropy and anti-smoking campaigning
Duncan Bannatyne, 60, the Dragons' Den star, is one of the UK's leading entrepreneurs with an estimated �320 million fortune. He is also a leading philanthropist and is a Trustee of Comic Relief. He is president of the charity No Smoking Day, as well as Quit's UK Children's Champion. Here he talks to Sean Carey about cigarette smoking in the UK and Africa.
Not everyone who is a former smoker becomes an anti-smoking activist. What's the motivation?
Well, although I used to smoke I now find that other people's smoking affects me quite a lot - it makes me cough, makes my eyes sting and all the rest of it. So I'm very aware of it at a personal level. But I have long been very concerned about the effect of cigarette smoke on young children's health. So when I was approached to become president of No Smoking Day in 2008, and earlier this year to become Quit's UK Children's Champion, I jumped at the chance. I'm just lucky that I have a public profile because of my television work. It comes in very useful for these sorts of campaigns. . . .
Do you think that the UK government has done enough in terms of anti-smoking initiatives?
No, it hasn't. The authorities in England were a year behind those in Scotland banning smoking in pubs and they're still lagging behind. . . .
In many African countries like Nigeria, Malawi and Mauritius, cigarette smoking is promoted through the use of advertising billboards and sponsorship of music concerts where free cigarettes are handed out. I found when I visited Malawi that often there is no age restriction on those attending these concerts or, if there is, there is no one on the door making sure that young people cannot get in.
What I have also observed in these countries is that among the very poor a single cigarette might be passed around by five or six children which means that they're all likely to develop the habit.
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