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Cancer blog – Nigel Acheson

On the wake of the introduction of the ban on smoking in cars with children it is important to reflect how much progress we have made in England in recognising the danger of tobacco smoke and taking action against it.

Second-hand smoke is particularly dangerous for children, placing them at higher risk of respiratory infections, asthma, bacterial meningitis and cot death.

Passive smoking has also been linked to around 165,000 new cases of disease among children in the UK each year.  With around half a million children previously exposed to second-hand smoke in the family car every week in England, I welcome the legislation because protecting children’s health has to be a priority.

And we know it works! Thousands of children may have been spared serious illness and admission to hospital by the smoking ban in public indoor places with 11,000 fewer children being admitted to hospital each year with lung infections (1).

When I started my career as a doctor it was still commonplace for people to smoke in the workplace even in designated parts of hospitals – despite the knowledge even then that smoking caused cancer. We have seen a social movement where activities that were once accepted are now no longer acceptable. A combination of education and legislation have brought about a real change of attitudes in society.

However, I also recognise that giving up smoking is a real challenge and that is where I look to the support of colleagues across the NHS in making every contact count. This month we have a national drive from Public Health England to help support people who want to quit with free personalised resources in the Stoptober campaign spearheaded by well-known comedians.

We know that tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the world and that both active smoking and environmental tobacco smoke cause almost a fifth (19%) of all cancer cases in the UK each year. Incidence of some smoking-related cancers is decreasing thanks largely to decreases in smoking prevalence; these include lung cancer (decreasing in males), oesophageal cancer (decreasing in females), and laryngeal cancer. However, unless there is further progress in reducing tobacco exposure, these decreases are expected to slow and eventually stop.

I urge colleagues to build on the impetus of the Stoptober drive but to continue it throughout the year – whether you are a GP, a nurse, a midwife, a hospital consultant or work in community or mental health services you can play a part in ensuring we continue to drive that message home.

  1. Researchers analysed more than 1.6 million hospital admissions of children aged 14 and under across England between 2001 to 2012. They found that the introduction of the smoking ban in 2007 was followed by an immediate reduction of 13.8 per cent in the number of admissions for lower respiratory tract infections.