30/07/2001 12:28  - (SA)

Philip de Bruin

Johannesburg - A South African judge's court order prohibiting smoking near a one-year-old child, has had international exposure and a World Health Organisation (WHO) request for a court transcript.

The newspaper Beeld reported over Judge-President W Steenkamp's finding ten day ago in the Northern Cape High Court.

Steenkamp, for the first time in South Africa - and it now appears world-wide - forbade the boy's parents, family and friends from smoking in a room or car where the child is present.

Greer van Zyl who is a member of the health section of the South African branch of the WHO said she had translated the report in English for an international anti-tobacco lobby network and it has been distributed world-wide. "I have had reaction from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, requesting a copy of the court finding.

"I was asked to dispatch the court's final ruling to the WHO."

She maintains Steenkamp's ruling is regarded as a "constitutional victory for the rights of children."

In tobacco control circles the ruling is seen as a double victory, since it has set a precedent, she said.

"I'm not aware of a similar court order being passed in any other country."