North West supports national report looking to create a smokefree future for all

Smokefree North West which has called for a debate on Smokefree cars for children has today backed a Royal College of Physicians Report highlighting the effect of second hand smoke on children.

The report, ‘Passive Smoking and Children’ which has been published today, highlights that 300,000 children in the UK present passive smoking related illnesses to their GP every year with 9,500 being admitted to hospital.

It is estimated that the North West is responsible for at least 30,000 of these smoking related illnesses and 1,000 hospital admissions. In reality this is likely to be much more as the North West has the largest population of smokers in England.

These new statistics open up further discussion in the region surrounding passive smoking and the effect it has on children. In March this year, nearly 200 leading public health figures from across the North West attended a Smokefree North West conference focused on Making Smoking History for our Children. 158 delegates pledged their support for a ban on smoking in cars carrying children and young people.

This latest report will support the call from Smokefree North West for every child to be protected from the effects of second hand smoke. In 2007 the smokefree legislation witnessed the protection of adults from the harmful effects of second hand smoke, three years on children are still being exposed to the dangerous poisons and fumes contained in a cigarette, causing long term health issues.

Andrea Crossfield, Director of Smokefree North West said: “Children’s current and future wellbeing is dramatically affected by second hand smoke, since the law on smoking in public places came into force in 2007, no further action has been taken to protect children from the harmful effects of smoking. The figures released today highlight an ongoing issue of second hand smoke and the continued affect that it is having on the health of children in the North West.”

Professor Gerard Hastings, Director of the Institute for Social Marketing & the Centre for Tobacco Control Research, speaking in support of creating a smokefree future for children said: “Children should be able to breathe easily and healthily. Especially when in a confined space like a car. Cars should be places where children can breathe and travel healthily, we need to stop thinking in terms of people’s freedom to smoke and start thinking in terms of children’s freedom to breathe.”

The Royal College of Physicians report highlights that second hand smoke is a cause of significant morbidity and mortality in babies and children and the most effective means of protecting children from passive smoking is to reduce the prevalence of smoking in adults.

There is public support for more comprehensive tobacco control policies and Governments and individuals have a duty to protect children from exposure to smoke and to smoking.*

Encouraging and supporting parents to make their homes smokefree is key in preventing second hand smoking in the home. According to the Royal College of Physicians Report, parents who are continually reminded of the need to smoke outdoors to protect the health of others in the workplace and other public places are more likely to adopt the same strategies to protect children and other family members in the home.