BMA steps up call for ban on smoking in public places

The BMA has stepped up its call for a ban on smoking in public places after finding that passive smoking kills 1000 people a year.

The association has also called on the government to tax all tobacco company profits to fund public awareness campaigns on the risks of passive smoking and the development of smoke-free public places.

The government's 1998 white paper on tobacco, Smoking Kills, acknowledged the risks of passive smoking but stopped short of a ban on smoking in public places. That report estimated that hundreds of people every year died from lung cancer associated with passive smoking.

The latest report, just published by the BMA's Board of Science and Education and the Tobacco Control Resource Centre (a European advisory body for doctors that is part funded by the European Commission and the World Health Organization), calculates, however, that millions of people in the United Kingdom are exposed to second-hand smoke. These include the 2.1 million people in the United Kingdom with angina, the 1.3 million with heart disease, and the 300000 who have had a stroke; hundreds of these people every year die from the effects of passive smoking.

The report warns that non-smokers are at risk both at home and at work: some 14 million non-smokers live with a smoker, and around three million workers are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke.

Staff working in bars or restaurants have the highest exposure to tobacco smoke. A review of exposure by non-smoking staff found that these workers are exposed to levels of tobacco smoke at work that are higher than those found in non-smokers who live with a smoker.

The report also found that less than half of workers in the United Kingdom are employed in workplaces that are completely smoke-free. Two fifths work in places that have designated smoking areas while 11% work in places with no smoking restrictions.

Restrictions on smoking in public places can also encourage smokers to quit or at least cut down their nicotine intake, the report says. And it says the introduction of smoke-free public places and workplaces should be “coupled to support for smokers who wish to quit, through workplace-based and national campaigns.”

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics, said: “In line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle, it's time the tobacco companies picked up the tab for the harm their products are doing. The government could make a start on this by taxing them to pay for public health campaigns on the risks of passive smoking.”

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TOBACCO RESOURCE CONTROL CENTRE

Poster warning of risks from passive smoking