The Institute’s members join everyone in Scotland’s public health community in celebrating the 5th anniversary of Scotland’s enclosed public places becoming smoke-free.
In the years leading up to the ban the Institute actively supported the introduction of controls to reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
According to Sally Haw, Senior Scientific Adviser for the Scottish Collaboration for Public Health and Policy, the ban has been one of Scotland’s big public health success stories. Ms Haw stated that there has been a 17% reduction in heart attacks among bar workers and cited a study by Glasgow University which showed a 15% reduction in the number of children with asthma being admitted to hospital in the three years after the ban came into force. Ms Haw also stated that there had been no evidence that people were smoking more at home because they could not do so in enclosed public places and went on to advise that there have been benefits for smokers too with smoking prevalence rates going down and the respiratory symptoms in smokers post-ban improving.
With the introduction of the ban in 2006 Scotland’s public, its workers and its many visitors now enjoy public places which are free of tobacco smoke.
