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Global momentum for smoke-free indoor environments at tipping point
April 12, 2007Countries and states accelerate enactment of regulations
Boston, MA-In a Perspective in the April 12, 2007 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Association of European Cancer Leagues describe the growing momentum for indoor smoking bans in countries across the globe. They identify Ireland's pioneering 2004 comprehensive indoor smoking ban as a likely tipping point for fundamental change in social norms and public health worldwide.
Since 2004, in only a few years, more than a dozen other countries have also adopted national indoor smoke-free policies that are being implemented or will be implemented in the near future.
Lead author Dr. Howard Koh, Professor and Associate Dean of Public Health Practice at HSPH said: "The 21st century is witnessing a paradigm shift, once considered impossible, whereby entire countries are declaring themselves smoke-free in indoor public places. Such mounting progress across the globe is making smoking history worldwide."
The Perspective is accompanied by a world map showing countries, states and provinces that have passed smoke-free policies applying broadly to indoor workplaces and other indoor public places.[Permission to reprint the map can be obtained through the NEJM media center (media.nejm.org) or contact Karen Pedersen at NEJM kpedersen@nejm.org]. Among the countries are Ireland, New Zealand, Bermuda (territory), Scotland, England and the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Uruguay, Iran, the British Virgin Islands (territory), Bhutan, Norway, Italy, Malta, Sweden, Iceland, Uganda, South Africa, France, Hong Kong (region), and Finland. While the United States lacks a federal policy, 17 states are currently recognized as smoke-free, with the number increasing steadily. California enacted the first state ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in 1998. In addition, most of Australia and Canada is currently covered by smoke-free laws in indoor public places.
While a number of these new policies currently allow exceptions, such as the possibility of designated, enclosed, ventilated smoking rooms, all have advanced the international public health goal of protecting people from involuntary exposure to second hand smoke.
"In short, the world has begun to reclaim clean air as the social norm," the authors write. "For too long, the tobacco industry has spent billions to normalize, market, and glamorize a behavior that is now recognized as a tragic drug addiction." They point out that changing the social norm will be critical to reversing the burden of tobacco-related illness that led to 100 million deaths in the 20th century and is projected to cause a billion deaths in the century ahead.
The authors also note that the 2003 World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first international public health treaty, helped galvanize global commitment. The treaty, which calls for countries to adopt clean-air policies as well as other initiatives to promote tobacco control and decrease consumption, has been ratified by 145 countries.
Harvard School of Public Health
Lead author Dr. Howard Koh, Professor and Associate Dean of Public Health Practice at HSPH said: "The 21st century is witnessing a paradigm shift, once considered impossible, whereby entire countries are declaring themselves smoke-free in indoor public places. Such mounting progress across the globe is making smoking history worldwide."
The Perspective is accompanied by a world map showing countries, states and provinces that have passed smoke-free policies applying broadly to indoor workplaces and other indoor public places.[Permission to reprint the map can be obtained through the NEJM media center (media.nejm.org) or contact Karen Pedersen at NEJM kpedersen@nejm.org]. Among the countries are Ireland, New Zealand, Bermuda (territory), Scotland, England and the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Uruguay, Iran, the British Virgin Islands (territory), Bhutan, Norway, Italy, Malta, Sweden, Iceland, Uganda, South Africa, France, Hong Kong (region), and Finland. While the United States lacks a federal policy, 17 states are currently recognized as smoke-free, with the number increasing steadily. California enacted the first state ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in 1998. In addition, most of Australia and Canada is currently covered by smoke-free laws in indoor public places.
While a number of these new policies currently allow exceptions, such as the possibility of designated, enclosed, ventilated smoking rooms, all have advanced the international public health goal of protecting people from involuntary exposure to second hand smoke.
"In short, the world has begun to reclaim clean air as the social norm," the authors write. "For too long, the tobacco industry has spent billions to normalize, market, and glamorize a behavior that is now recognized as a tragic drug addiction." They point out that changing the social norm will be critical to reversing the burden of tobacco-related illness that led to 100 million deaths in the 20th century and is projected to cause a billion deaths in the century ahead.
The authors also note that the 2003 World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the first international public health treaty, helped galvanize global commitment. The treaty, which calls for countries to adopt clean-air policies as well as other initiatives to promote tobacco control and decrease consumption, has been ratified by 145 countries.
Harvard School of Public Health
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reating virulent influenza, sepsis, and other potentially deadly infections long has focused on looking for ways to kill viruses and bacteria. But new research from the University of Utah and Utah State University shows that modulating the body's own overeager inflammatory response to infection may help save more lives.
STOP Obesity Alliance surveys show doctors, patients share role in weight loss, but ask, now what?
Primary care physicians agree they have a role in addressing obesity, but say they do not have the right weight management resources. Obese or heavier adults take responsibility for weight loss, but adults who need to lose weight may lack information about effective weight loss methods and strategies.
Older non-smokers gain most from tobacco ban, study suggests
Older people who have never smoked benefit most from smoking bans, a study suggests.
Obesity and passive smoking reduce oxygen supply to unborn baby
Babies born to mothers with obesity and exposed to passive smoking are more likely to have health problems than others.
ID Physicians Call for 10 New Antibiotics by 2020
As the deaths and suffering caused by antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections continue to rise around the world, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging a global commitment to develop 10 new antibiotics by 2020, known as the 10 x '20 initiative, to address this public health crisis and safeguard patients' health.
Preventive Behaviors Limited Household Transmission of H1N1 Influenza During Initial Outbreak
Simple, common sense behaviors, including having a discussion at home about how to prevent influenza, can help limit the spread of H1N1 in a household, according to a study of the initial outbreak in New York City in 2009.
Keeping up with the neighbors speeds vaccine use
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health conducted an analysis of worldwide use of Haemophilus influenza Type b vaccine (Hib) to determine what factors influenced a nation's adoption of the vaccine.
Duffy-negative blood types no longer protected from P. Vivax malaria
In a paradigm changing discovery, Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria has been identified in a population historically thought to be resistant to the disease, those who do not express the Duffy blood group protein on their red blood cells.
Blacks Have Highest Cancer Rates of All Racial Ethnicities, Yet Feel Less at Risk, Study Finds
Mammograms, pap smears and early detection tests for prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and other malignancies are critical for catching cancer before it becomes deadly.
Exercising just got easier for busy people, study shows
If you're the type of person who invokes the "not enough time" clause when it comes to exercising, it's time to find a new excuse. Researchers who have been studying interval training have found that it not only takes less time than what is typically recommended, but the regimen does not have to be "all out" to be effective in helping reduce the risk of such diseases at Type 2 diabetes.
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