| ASH news release: Immediate Use, |
| LEAKED GOVERNMENT REPORT SHOWS EXTENT OF HEALTH DAMAGE FROM SECONDHAND SMOKE |
| A confidential report to Government by The Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health (SCOTH: see http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/scoth/members.htm for membership) reported to Government four months ago, although Health Secretary John Reid has yet to make their findings public. The report updates their previous work, published in 1998. The leaked report comes as Health Secretary John Reid is reported to be considering exempting “wet-led” pubs from a proposed new law ending smoking in the workplace, even though bar staff are perhaps the single group of employees most at risk from secondhand smoke. A White Paper on public health, containing proposals aimed at cutting the health damage caused by smoking, is expected to be published in November. The SCOTH report states that “overall exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke in the population has declined somewhat as cigarette smoking prevalence has continued to come down. However, some groups, for example bar staff, are heavily exposed at their place of work and almost half of all children still live in households with at least one smoker.” The SCOTH report concludes that: “it is evident that no infant, child or adult should be exposed to secondhand smoke ... Secondhand smoke represents a substantial public health hazard”. The Executive Summary of the latest report reveals that: · There is an increased risk of lung cancer for non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke of about 24%, confirming the findings of the previous report. · There is an increased risk of ischaemic heart disease for non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke, and “the weight of evidence now is stronger than at the time of the [1998] SCOTH report. The increased risk associated with exposure to secondhand smoke is in the order of 25%”. · Children are at particular risk from secondhand smoke - “the evidence strongly links secondhand smoke with an increased risk of pneumonia and bronchitis, asthma attacks, middle ear disease, decreased lung function and sudden infant death syndrome. It has also been shown that babies born to mothers who come into contact with secondhand smoke have lower birth weights”. · “The evidence published since1998 points to an association between secondhand smoke and respiratory symptoms and reduced lung functions in adults”. A major study in Action on Smoking and Health warns that the health risks from both domestic and workplace exposure to secondhand smoke are causing several thousand premature deaths a year across the “This report shows that The report shows that there is no longer any excuse to deny the health damage caused by secondhand smoke. It also shows the absurdity of exempting from any new law the very group of employees most exposed to risk. November's White Paper must follow the Irish model and end smoking in the workplace once and for all. The clear lesson of the report is that nothing less will do.” - ENDS - |
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