Smoking ban reveals expected health benefits
Following the introduction of the smoking ban in public places across the UK, more than 1,200 fewer people were admitted to hospitals in England during the first 12 months after the legislation was introduced.
Following a study into the effects of the smoking ban conducted by a team of researchers at Bath University, it was revealed that 2.4% drop in cases of cardiac arrest could have saved the NHS more than £8 million.
Despite such a small overall reduction in the number of heart attacks, the ban has still been branded as beneficial to public health.
Elsewhere in the UK, such as Scotland, noted much greater results with a 17% decrease in heart attack admissions a year after the ban was brought into force.
In a report by the Telegraph, Betty McBride from the British Heart Foundation welcomed the findings:
“Banning smoking in public places was a bold step and now we have evidence showing that was absolutely right.
“What’s more, we’ll see more benefits in the future because heart attacks aren’t the only way that tobacco smoke harms the heart.
“Government should see this as a green light for further life-saving measures – going beyond the forthcoming ban on vending machines – to crack down on illegal tobacco smuggling and introducing plain packaging on cigarette boxes.”
Meanwhile those campaigning against the ban said that the findings were just a continuation of a pre-existing series of trends:
Simon Clark of pro-smoking group – Forest – told the a BBC health reporter:
“The number of emergency heart attack admissions had been falling for several years, even before the smoke-free legislation, so what we are seeing is part of a trend that has nothing to do with the smoking ban.
“This study is designed to show the benefits of prohibition. What it doesn’t show is the misery that has been heaped on hundreds of thousands of people by unnecessarily harsh and divisive piece of legislation.”
