Ireland: Smoking Ban Saves 3,700 Lives Thanks to Cleaner Air  

Source from:  Irish Independent (ie)  05/02/2013

More than 3,700 deaths have been prevented in Ireland thanks to the cleaner air we breathe due to the smoking ban, according to a study.

An estimated 3,726 smoking-related deaths have been spared because people are less exposed to second-hand smoke.

Prof Luke Clancy, director of the Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland, said: "Previous studies have shown decreases in cardiovascular mortality following the implementation of comprehensive smoking bans.

"Ireland became the first country in the world to implement a comprehensive national workplace smoking ban in March 2004 and it is important to establish that there are significant health benefits.

"Our study shows that mortality decreases were primarily due to reductions in passive smoking, rather than a reduction in active smoking, and we remember that this protection from passive smoke was the basis for the introduction of the 2004 legislation."

The findings in the scientific paper were published this week in the medical journal 'PLOS One' and follow research by Brunel University, London; the Environmental Health Sciences Institute; Dublin Institute of Technology; and the Tobacco Free Research Institute.

Prof Clancy said the study showed a 26pc reduction in heart disease, a 32pc fall in strokes and a 38pc drop in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality.

"The national Irish smoking ban was associated with immediate reductions in early mortality. This study corroborates previous evidence for cardiovascular causes, and is the first study to demonstrate reductions in stroke and respiratory causes," he said.

Breathing in somebody else's cigarette smoke is known to increase the risk of cancer and other health problems and it is particularly harmful for children. Smoke can stay in the air for up to two-and-a-half hours even with a window open. Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals.

Risk

Exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of morbidity and premature mortality due to cardiovascular and respiratory causes. Enditem