Views on smoking free premise 2007, England; the gains so far

Abstract

Smoking is one of the most avoidable cause of death and disability. Smoking not only affects smokers but also nonsmokers who are involuntarily exposed to smoke raising a serious concern for public health, safety, and welfare. Concerns regarding secondhand smoking came to the ground after various medical scientific researches and publications quantified and confirmed the health risk of passive smoking after exposure with it, which drew the public attention. The turning point for the government to introduce a ban of smoking at public and workplaces to protect the right of nonsmokers to enjoy fresh air, came as a 2006 Health Act in UK after it was strongly backed by the recommendation given by SCOTH regarding SHS. Through this policy, the government also supports internationally recognized comprehensive tobacco control standard. UK was first among the FCTC parties to introduce comprehensive smoke free legislation. The major objective of this policy is to limit the preventable epidemic of smoking. This policy is based on the Health Policy Triangle which considers the interaction of all four elements (Content, Context, Process and Actors) to structure policymaking. For agenda setting Kingdon model was used and for implementation phase of the policy Top-down approach was used. The major stakeholders that supported 2006 Health Act were Labour party, The Royal College of physicians (RCP), Action on smoking and Health (ASH) and research and evidence-based news while Tobacco industry and hospital trade was against the Act. The evidence suggested that risks of heart disease in secondhand smoker was double than what was known before. SHS became an agenda when in 2003, around 11,000 adults exposed in home and 617 people exposed in workplace died in UK because of exposure to SHS. People want to quit smoking and wanted help from government to make favorable environment. Following the public consultation white paper was published, Choosing Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier, in November 2004. It set the target that by 2008 all enclosed public places and workplace would be smoke free with some exceptions. Act was supported by labour party and department of Health Economist was of the view that ban would not have any immediate benefits on passive smoker instead it will discourage the young from starting. After publishing the white paper in 2004 there was the consultation period till 2005. There was a voting in parliament and majority of voted for ban on smoking in public places. As a result, Health Act 2006 was introduced on 1st July 2007. Smokers were against the ban, but the purpose of the ban was to focus on protecting health of people from SHS not make smokers quit. Reports disseminated after inspection from local bodies confirmed high levels of compliance with smoke free legislation. The data showed there were 2.4% reduction in hospital admission in a year for heart attack and almost 7000 fewer admission due to childhood asthma. Thus, Smoking ban policies have shown effective public health interventions for the prevention of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and respiratory mortality and preserve the health of children.