BANNING smoking in public places has helped to reduce child death, according to new research from the US and Europe published in a leading medical journal.

Laws banning smoking in public places like restaurants and offices and other workplaces have already proved in previous studies to protect adults from the health threats associated with passive smoking.

Every puff of a smoker releases over 4,700 chemicals in the air, which are extremely dangerous for human health. Children are most vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke (SHS). Together with the known health benefits in adults, the recent research provides clear evidence that smoking bans have considerable public health benefits for child health.

According to the World Health Organisation, tobacco already kills around six million people a year worldwide, including more than 600,000 non-smokers who die from exposure to SHS.

There are laws that do not allow smoking at public places such as hotels, restaurants, offices, bus stops and shopping centres in our country but there is hardly any implementation in this regard.

Countries which have implemented smoking ban at public places are already seeing its results in the form of improved public health and reduction in money spent on various diseases caused by smoking.

I hope our ministry of health would learn from this research and take strict measures for the implementation of smoking ban at public places in order to protect non-smokers, particularly children, from the hazards of secondhand smoking.

Prof Javaid A. Khan
Chair, National Alliance for Tobacco Control
Karachi