Towards smoke-free public places
British Medical Association
Board of Science and Education and Tobacco Control Resource Centre
November 2002
Executive summary
Second-hand tobacco smoke is the main source of indoor air pollution. For more than a decade, convincing scientific evidence has been available to demonstrate that exposure to second-hand smoke both harms health, and worsens existing health problems. At least one thousand people are estimated to die each year in the UK as the result of exposure to other people’s tobacco smoke.
Successive expert panels and government committees have emphasised the need for protection of non-smokers from second-hand smoke, including the restriction of smoking in public places.
The BMA has long supported legislation to ban smoking in public places as a necessary step in combating the dangers of second-hand smoke to non-smokers. Some progress has been made.
Yet for the majority of the population, public places are the main source of exposure to second-hand smoke. Three million people are still exposed to tobacco smoke in the course of their work. The UK is rapidly falling behind other countries in its provisions to protect non-smokers.
The report from the BMA Board of Science and Education and Tobacco Control Resource Centre summarises the scientific and medical knowledge on the nature and scale of the health effects of passive smoking:
- In adults, second-hand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer by some 20-30 per cent and the risk of coronary heart disease by 25-35 per cent. In children, exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of lower respiratory tract illnesses, asthma, middle-ear infection and sudden infant death syndrome.
- Certain population groups are particularly vulnerable: children, pregnant women, people with existing cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease, and those with asthma and other respiratory disorders. Moreover, those in lower socioeconomic groups are at greater risk of exposure than those in better-off groups.
- There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke, and adverse effects can be seen at low levels of exposure.
Government initiatives have centred on voluntary measures, on partial restrictions on smoking in public places, and on the use of ventilation.The report concludes that such initiatives are inadequate and do not protect the non-smoker from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.
The report reviews the effectiveness of various policy options and highlights the urgent need for decisive action to protect the public from the adverse health effects of passive smoking in public places. It promotes a smoke-free policy, based on legislation, to protect the public health.
Towards smoke-free public places is available from the:
BMJ Bookshop
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M13 9BL
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ISBN: 0 7279 1768 4
Go to the BMJ Bookshop website here - www.bmjbookshop.com.
The report, and additional resources on smoke-free policies can be downloaded from the Tobacco Control Resource Centre website here - www,doctorsandtobacco.org.