Asthma UK leads call for smoking ban
31 May 2004

Asthma UK has urged the government to end prevarication and ban smoking in public places.

In a letter to The Guardian on No Tobacco Day (31 May), Asthma UK led a group of 11 health charities in asking when the government will implement the measure that would save an estimated 5,000 lives a year.

As the three-month public consultation 'Choosing Health?' nears its end, the letter demands 'How many consultations are needed before the government will grasp the nettle of banning smoking in all workplaces and public places?'

A poll published earlier this week revealed that 52% of British adults support such a ban. In the same week a study showed that almost 5,000 people a year in the UK are killed by second-hand tobacco smoke, including one person a week working in the hospitality industry.

Asthma UK says that 3 million Britons work in places where people around them smoke. More than 80% of the 5.1 million people with asthma in the UK say that cigarette smoke triggers their symptoms. Exposure to second-hand smoke has also been proved to be a cause of asthma, and is the principal reason for emergency visits to hospital by children suffering asthma attacks.

The number of smokers in New York has plummeted in the year following the implementation of legislation banning the habit in the city's bars and restaurants.

The signatories to today's letter to The Guardian say the evidence is conclusive: 'The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, and the Presidents of all 13 Royal Colleges of Medicine all recommend making public places and workplaces smoke-free.'