Campaign to drive out smoking in cars is welcomed

6 February 2012

Today the Welsh Government launches a publicity campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke in the car.

Carwyn Jones, the First Minister for Wales, announced in July 2011 that Wales could be the first European country to ban smoking in vehicles carrying children if children's exposure to secondhand smoke does not start to fall within the next 3 years. The Welsh Government is running a publicity campaign to raise awareness of the health risks of smoking in cars.     

Claudia McVie, Chief Executive of cancer charity Tenovus, said:

"Smoking is the main known cause of cancer.  Anything we can do to encourage people to stop smoking is a good thing. There is evidence to show that young people who inhale smoke from an early age are more likely to take up smoking. The majority of patients we see on a day to day basis are lung cancer patients so we are only too aware of this terrible disease. This initiative goes a long way to help this issue. We congratulate the Welsh Government on this bold initiative and very much look forward to working with them to help deliver on their outcomes."

ASH Wales Chief Executive Elen de Lacy said:

"We are fully supportive of the Fresh Start Wales campaign.  It is a chance for Wales to show true leadership in the UK. Tackling tobacco needs to be the Government's number one public health priority if we want to ensure a sustainable future for the NHS in Wales. 

The smokefree legislation introduced in Wales in 2007 which was designed to protect pub and bar workers from breathing in toxic fumes has had a major impact in reducing people's exposure to secondhand smoke.  It has shown how important legislation is in changing people's behaviour, but without legislation to back it up I fear the marketing campaign by itself is unlikely to achieve the necessary behaviour change amongst smokers." 

The dangers of passive smoking to children's health have been well documented. Research by the Royal College of Physicians found a link between childhood exposure to toxins in secondhand smoke and middle ear disease, asthma, meningitis, and sudden infant deaths (cot deaths).    

An ASH Wales survey of 1,000 adults in Wales found that only a quarter of smokers had banned smoking in their cars.  Worryingly, 1 in 5 smokers allowed smoking in their vehicles at any time.  Four out of five adults want to see a ban on smoking in cars carrying children introduced in Wales.

To read the whole press release, please visit the Ash Wales website.