Urgent Need to Ban Smoking in Cars Carrying Children, Say Health Experts

Urgent Need to Ban Smoking in Cars Carrying Children, Say Health Experts

Government in England has been requested by more than 700 health professions to ban smoking in cars with children. In the letter issued by health professions, the MPs were urged to amend the law to ensure well-being of children.

About 300,000 primary care contacts, 9,500 hospital admissions, 200 cases of bacterial meningitis and 400 sudden infant death cases are reported every year in UK, said the Royal College of Physicians.

Smoking is injurious to health and causes lung damage in children directly inhaling the smoke. Having second-hand exposure to tobacco smoke also marks as ‘major cause of ill health in children’. Ear infections, meningitis and cot death are some of the common risk factors in children caused because of second-hand smoking exposure.

Dr. Nicholas Hopkinson, from Imperial College London and chairman of the British Thoracic Society's chronic obstructive pulmonary disease specialist advisory group, said smoking in cars causes high amounts of tobacco smoke.

Next week offers great opportunity for the MPs to protect health of hundreds of thousands of children worldwide by voting in favor of the law, said Dr. Nicholas. Some of the countries like Australia, South Africa and the USA had already put ban on smoking in cars carrying children, said Peter Mackereth, tobacco specialist from Manchester's Christie Hospital.

Ban on smoking in public places came into effect in 2007, since then many attempts have been made to ban smoking in private vehicles carrying children. The previous week, House of Lords supported a Labor amendment to the Children and Families Bill, empowering government to make smoking in vehicles carrying children a criminal offence.

Jim Hume, Lib Dem MSP in Scotland, said that he will be launching a bill to ban smoking in vehicles with children by end of this year. Also, plans for consultation on this issue have also been issued by health minister in Northern Ireland.

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