An extra £450,000 is to be spent on anti-smoking initiatives in Wales, in addition to the £500,000 allocated to Welsh health authorities for the same purpose in July. Included in the extra money is £16,000 to be spent on developing smoking cessation training packages specifically for primary health care staff.
A spokesman for the Welsh National Assembly told The Journal on October 20 that the new training would be expected to specifically target women who smoked.
The rest of the money is to be spent on initiatives to try to stop children and young people from taking up smoking. These are expected to include educational programmes to target under-age tobacco sales and a "smokebusters" club for nine to 11-year olds.
He added that the deadline by which health authorities had to submit their bids for a share of the original £0.5m was rapidly approaching.
"What is being sought is programmes that are innovative and accessible to the community," the spokesman said.