Scotland is to spend its entire allocation of additional tobacco tax revenues on health improvement schemes.
The money - £26m - is to be spent on initiatives to reduce smoking, improve diet and dental health, to provide support for mothers and babies and to improve health screening and immunisation in a drive to rid Scotland of its "sick man of Europe" label.
Outlining the move on August 21, the Scottish Health Minister (Ms Susan Deacon) said: "A really effective health policy is not just one that gets better at treating more sick people in hospital. It is one that gets better at enabling more people to stay well and to stay out of hospital."
Examples of the steps to be taken include providing fresh fruit for local playgroups and day care services for children and giving free toothbrushes and toothpaste to all children under one year of age and to toddlers in deprived communities. Plans for older children and young people include expanding school breakfast clubs, introducing fruit and salad bars as an alternative to traditional school tuck shops and a media campaign and multi-agency health promotion drive to cut teenage smoking, particularly among girls. For older people, the plans include more help to quit smoking, a new role for the National Health Service in occupational health, better cervical and breast screening and more influenza immunisation.
Ms Deacon announced a commitment to provide similar sums of money each financial year until 2003-04.
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Children at Scottish playgroups and day care centres are to get free fresh fruit
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