Yukon doctors are backing the push for a national children's health strategy, as well as continuing their campaign for a territory-wide ban on smoking in public places.

In order to address child poverty, obesity, physical inactivity, mental health and addiction issues, members of the Yukon Medical Association voted Friday afternoon to support the Canadian Medical Association's goal to develop a national strategy.

It was also suggested during discussions the Yukon recruit a full-time pediatric psychiatrist to assist with the mental health issues facing the territory's youth.

In addition to the resolutions on smoking and children's health coming out of the association's annual general meeting, there was also a motion directing the Yukon association to work with the national body to address wait times for patients.

One doctor recommended the Yukon government be asked to stop the sale of junk food through vending machines in Yukon schools.

Dr. Wayne MacNicol told his colleagues the Yukon government should be cautioned in its approach to patient wait times.

Focusing on reducing wait times in individual areas can negatively affect service in other health care areas, MacNicol said.

The government, he suggested, should be told to take a global approach to the issue.

MacNicol, a former YMA president, said it is also time the government started doing something about cigarette smoking.

Smoking-related disease is among the second-highest cause of deaths among Yukon males next to violent and accidental deaths, and the third among the territory's female population, said MacNicol.

He noted in his 12 years of practising in the territory, every year Yukon doctors have passed motions calling on the territorial government to enhance its battle against smoking.

'It is still our major health issue here,' MacNicol told Health Minister Brad Cathers during a question-and-answer period following the minister's address to the doctors. 'But Yukoners are slow to move.'

Yukon doctors want the government to bring forward legislation banning smoking in all public places across the territory, he said.

MacNicol pointed out in California where smoking is strictly restricted 11 per cent of the population smokes.

In Canada, 19 to 20 per cent of Canadians still smoke but the percentage in the Yukon is still up at 27 to 28, he said.

While Whitehorse has banned smoking in all public places and Dawson City has banned it in all public places but bars, it is permitted in public places throughout the rest of the Yukon.

In addition to the call on the government for a territory-wide ban, Friday's motion also urges the Yukon Workers' Compensation Health and Safety Board to ban smoking in all places of work.

Cathers told the doctors his government is aware of the concern and the damage that can be caused from second-hand smoke. He noted the municipal governments do have the authority to implement bans in their communities.

'One of the concerns with territory-wide legislation is the fact that many of the small municipalities and chambers of commerce are concerned about the impact it would have economically,' Cathers said.

In the less populated areas, the minister explained, the local restaurant is often much more than a place to get a cup of coffee. It can be the place were residents go to meet and socialize, he said.

There is a concern if smoking is restricted, it may alter the social function of the local coffee shop, and result in parents spending more time at home and smoking around their children, he said.

In some cases, Cathers suggested, the local restaurant or similar business can be a cornerstone in the local economy and passing legislation that affects the business could affect the local economy.

Cathers told the doctors he didn't know if the government's approach to the smoking issue or the timelines will be what the doctors want to see, but the government is certainly prepared to work on the issue.