Smoking ban saves lives in England
Source: Agencies |
June 10, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A SMOKING ban in public places in England led to a swift and significant drop in the number of heart attacks, saving the health service 8.4 million pounds (US$13 million) in the first year, scientists said yesterday.
The findings of a British study suggest anti-smoking legislation has the potential to save millions of lives in both the short and longer term by reducing the amount of smoking and the exposure to second-hand smoke.
"These benefits are just a fraction of the total benefits of the legislation, because we looked only at the effect on heart attacks in the immediate period," said Anna Gilmore, director of the Bath University tobacco control research group. "In the current (economic) climate, this study underlines the importance of public health interventions such as this. They're cheap, they're easy to implement, they have important health benefits and they save health service money."
Gilmore's study, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that in the year after July 2007, when smoking in public places in England was banned, there were 1,200 fewer hospital admissions for heart attacks than the annual average in the previous five years, a fall of 2.4 percent.
A separate study by the London Health Observatory, also published yesterday, found this 2.4 percent drop produced estimated savings of 8.4 million pounds in emergency hospital care in the first 12 months.
"The message is clear: Investment in prevention pays," said Bobbie Jackson, LHO director.
The findings of a British study suggest anti-smoking legislation has the potential to save millions of lives in both the short and longer term by reducing the amount of smoking and the exposure to second-hand smoke.
"These benefits are just a fraction of the total benefits of the legislation, because we looked only at the effect on heart attacks in the immediate period," said Anna Gilmore, director of the Bath University tobacco control research group. "In the current (economic) climate, this study underlines the importance of public health interventions such as this. They're cheap, they're easy to implement, they have important health benefits and they save health service money."
Gilmore's study, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that in the year after July 2007, when smoking in public places in England was banned, there were 1,200 fewer hospital admissions for heart attacks than the annual average in the previous five years, a fall of 2.4 percent.
A separate study by the London Health Observatory, also published yesterday, found this 2.4 percent drop produced estimated savings of 8.4 million pounds in emergency hospital care in the first 12 months.
"The message is clear: Investment in prevention pays," said Bobbie Jackson, LHO director.
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