Abstract
Rather than clearly and unequivocally requiring 100% smokefree workplaces and public places (including restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues), Israeli law contains several elements that parallel the tobacco companies’ “accommodation” program, which is designed to maintain the social acceptability of smoking and protect industry profits. Rather than 100% smokefree workplaces, smoking is permitted in private offices despite the fact that it then wafts throughout the building. Bars and pubs are allowed to set aside a quarter of their space for smokers, as long as it is in a separate room, and this explains the dangerous levels of secondhand smoke air pollution in Israeli bars and pubs. The weaknesses in the current Israeli laws are sending Israeli citizens to the hospital for secondhand smoke-induced heart attacks, asthma and other diseases. The Israeli government needs to catch up with the rest of the developed world and enact and implement a strong smokefree law.This is a commentary on http://www.ijhpr.org/content/2/1/20/.
Highlights
Rather than clearly and unequivocally requiring 100% smokefree workplaces and public places, Israeli law contains several elements that parallel the tobacco companies’ “accommodation” program, which is designed to maintain the social acceptability of smoking and protect industry profits
Commentary The most amazing statistic Laura Rosen and colleagues report in their paper “Do health policy advisors know what the public wants? An empirical comparison of how health policy advisors assess public preferences regarding smoke-free air, and what the public prefers” [1] is that 27% of Israel’s health policy advisors were exposed to secondhand smoke at work. (This is better than for the public, 46% of whom suffered secondhand smoke exposure at work)
The fact that even workplaces for health care advisors are not 100% smokefree reflects the fact that the government is not effectively protecting Israeli citizens from the thousands of toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke and the heart disease and cancer they cause
Summary
Rather than clearly and unequivocally requiring 100% smokefree workplaces and public places (including restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues), Israeli law contains several elements that parallel the tobacco companies’ “accommodation” program, which is designed to maintain the social acceptability of smoking and protect industry profits. The fact that even workplaces for health care advisors are not 100% smokefree reflects the fact that the government is not effectively protecting Israeli citizens from the thousands of toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke and the heart disease and cancer they cause.
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