Ministers claim it is the biggest ever drive to inform the public of the dangers of smoking.
A series of high visibility billboard posters will run until the New Year. They will be backed up with a series of television adverts. People who quit smoking soon feel the health benefits - and that would be a great start to the new Millennium. The Department of Health is awaiting the outcome of an appeal against an injunction granted to leading tobacco companies to prevent the introduction of a ban on tobacco advertising. If this appeal is successful, the government will introduce regulations to implement a ban 21 days later.