Press Releases
ASH Wales Welcomes Stop Smoking Wales Service
ASH Wales welcomes the launch today of Stop Smoking Wales. Stop Smoking Wales is the new name for the All Wales Smoking Cessation Service. Stop Smoking Wales is part of the National Public Health Service and is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government to assist smokers across Wales to quit.
ASH Wales Director, Tanya Buchanan said:
"Most smokers tell us they want to quit. They also tell us that quitting smoking can be one of the most difficult things they have ever done. It takes some smokers a number of attempts before they are able to quit successfully. That is why the service provided by Stop Smoking Wales is so valuable."
Lung Cancer Awareness Month – November 2007
As lung cancer awareness month gets underway ASH Wales is urging the public not to delay a visit to their GP if they believe they have symptoms of lung cancer. The main symptoms of lung cancer are: a persistent cough, or change to a longstanding cough; shortness of breath; coughing up phlegm with signs of blood; chest pain; loss of appetite; fatigue and weight loss. The majority of lung cancer cases are smoking related.
The UK has one of the worst lung cancer survival rates in Europe. Currently, just a quarter of people with lung cancer in England (25%) will live for a year and less than one in ten (7% in England) will still be alive five years after diagnosis. It is crucial therefore to get diagnosed and begin treatment as soon as possible.
ASH Wales Supports RCP Call for Nicotine Harm Reduction Strategy
ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) in Wales has appointed a new Chairperson and new Director to start in 2007. Professor Steven Tomlinson will take over the role of Chairperson from Dr Norman Mills. Dr Mills is retiring after six years as Chairperson. Ms Tanya Buchanan takes on the role of Director, replacing the retiring Ms Naomi King.
Wales is Smoke free but now is the time to reduce smoking amongst adolescents in Wales
Wales has been enjoying six months of fresh air since the Smoking Ban on 2 April 2007. Around 27% of all adults smoke in Wales and the ban is just one step in reducing that harmful figure. We now need to focus efforts upon the youth of Wales and ensure that their future is a smoke free one. Around 19% of young men aged 15-16 smoke and this figure is even higher for girls of that age at 27.5%. These figures are compelling and need to be urgently reduced. Studies show that most young people think that smoking is a normal adult activity and grossly over estimate the number of adults who smoke. Indeed, the average age at which young people in Wales start smoking is twelve and half years. The younger a smoker starts smoking the more likely they will suffer an early death from a smoking related disease.
Smokers take more sick leave: more evidence of the benefits of going smokefree early
New research from Sweden shows that smokers take almost 8 days more sick leave every year than non-smokers. [1] This large, nationally representative study provides the best evidence to date that smoking affects productivity. Across the whole sample, the average number of days taken as sick leave was 25. Smokers took almost 11 extra days off sick compared to non-smoking colleagues. Adjusting for other factors such as socioeconomic status and the type of job undertaken, brought the figure down to just under 8 on average.
Commenting on the study, Deborah Arnott, Director of the health campaigning charity ASH, said:
"This research shows clearly that smokers take significantly more time off sick smoking but what is particularly interesting is that once people stop smoking, their productivity immediately improves.
The smokefree legislation will bring enormous health and economic benefits for employers and employees alike. In the run-up to the workplace smoking ban employers should provide as much support as possible for their staff who need help in quitting smoking."
The benefits of quitting smoking cannot be over-stressed and the positive effects can be felt quickly. [2] A non-smoking workforce is therefore more likely to be a productive, healthy workforce.
Notes and links:
[1] Lundborg P. Does smoking increase sick leave? Evidence using a register data on Swedish workers. Tobacco Control 2007; 16: 114-118
[2] See ASH Factsheet no 11 Stopping smoking: The benefits and aids to quitting.
http://www.ash.org.uk/html/factsheets/html/fact11.html
Smoking ban provides a platform from which to further reduce problems that cigarettes cause
The ban is a beginning not and end, says Tanya Buchanan of ASH.
The ban on smoking in public places comes into force on Monday. The ban is a crucial step in reducing the rate of deaths and illnesses caused by exposure to tobacco smoke.
However the ban is not an end point; it is the beginning. Reducing the 6,000 deaths that occur each year in Wales as a result of smoking will require an ongoing and concerted effort long after the ban comes into effect.
The best outcome for public health in Wales is to see increased and long-term investment and support for prevention activities, especially those directed at our young people and children, and for services that help smokers to quit.
The smoking ban is important because it protects people while they are at work from exposure to second-hand smoke. People have the right to go to work and not be exposed to dangerous substances. The effects of second-hand smoke are well documented. Non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke not only experience short-term effects such as eye irritation, headache and trouble breathing. But they also seriously increase their risk of developing lung cancer or heart disease.
Non-smoking adults exposed to second-hand smoke are 24% more likely to develop lung cancer and 25% more at risk of heart disease.
The World Health Organisation quotes Sir Richard Doll, best known for his research linking smoking to health problems, as saying, "An hour a day in a room with a smoker is nearly a hundred times more likely to cause lung cancer in a non-smoker than 20 years spent in a building containing asbestos."
At ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) we have always supported this legislation, not because we are anti-smoker: Ash Wales recognises that nicotine is a highly addictive substance and we know from talking to smokers and from research conducted by others that most people (70-80%) who smoke would dearly love to stop. The ban provides many smokers with the incentive to have a go at quitting.
A poll conducted by the No Smoking Day charity found that one in five smokers in Wales intend to try to quit smoking as a result of the ban coming into effect on April 2. However, the reality is that many of the people who try to stop smoking prior to the ban will not succeed on their first attempt. Most smokers require several attempts to stop smoking. Smokers need encouragement and support with their attempts to quit. They need to recognise that it is important to continue to keep trying to stop smoking and that one failed attempt does not mean that they need to be life-long smokers.
The best estimates suggest that Wales may see a 4% reduction in the number of people who smoke as a result of the ban. Unfortunately, this means that thousands of people in Wales will continue to die as a result of smoking cigarettes. It is important that the dangers of cigarette smoking are understood. The World Health Organisation states, "There is no other consumer product on the market that is remotely as dangerous, or kills as many people. Tobacco kills more than AIDS, legal drugs, illegal drugs, road accidents, murder and suicide combined."
One in two cigarette smokers will die prematurely. So while the ban will protect people from exposure to second-hand smoke at work, there is still much work to be done to reduce the death rate from smoking in Wales. We need to increase the resources spent on education and prevention and on assisting those who already smoke to stop.
We must educate children and young people so that they don't start smoking. Too many of them already smoke; in Wales 19% of boys and 27.5% of girls aged 15 and 16 smoke. The fact is that unless they stop smoking half of them will die prematurely.
We also need to increase our support to smokers. Quitting smoking is difficult. But it can be done. Smokers who try to stop and fail need support to keep trying to quit. The All Wales Smoking Cessation Service provides vital support to smokers to help them give up and can be contacted on 08000 852 219.
The ban is a great piece of legislation that protects all people especially while they are at work. But there is still so much more to be done. The loss of life from smoking can be reduced. People do not have to get sick and die from a very preventable cause.
Tanya Buchanan is Director of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) Wales.
This Article appears in the March 31st Edition of the Western Mail. Click Here to visit the website.
Working together in support of No Smoking Day
On April 2nd, 2007 a law will take effect in Wales banning smoking in all enclosed public places, including pubs, restaurants and the workplace.
The legislation aims to protect our population from the dangers of second hand smoke, yet at the same time it is taking away one of our personal liberties – the freedom to choose when and where we may want to smoke. Why should we have this restriction imposed upon us?
This Article appears in the March / April Edition of Welsh Countryside Magazine. Click Here to visit the website.
Working together in support of No Smoking Day
No Smoking Day is on the 14th March. The theme for this year is Make a Fresh Start. No Smoking Day, now in its 24th year, has become a a firm fixture in the Welsh calendar because of its popularity amongst smokers and its continued success at promoting the benefits of quiting. With only three weeks to go before the smoking ban, No Smoking Day this year will be a great opportunity for many smokers to try and stop
ASH Wales Welcomes Smoke-Free Public Places
ASH Wales welcomed today the announcement that Wales will go smoke free on the 2nd April 2007.
ASH Wales Rejects Delaying the Start of the Ban on Smoke-Free Public Places
ASH Wales today condemned a proposed ammendment to the legislation introducing smoke free public places in Wales. Under the draft legislation, Wales is due to go smoke free on the 2nd April 2007. An ammendment presented by three AMs wants the implementation of the ban to be delayed until July when England will also go smoke free.
New Management Team for ASH Wales
ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) in Wales has appointed a new Chairperson and new Director to start in 2007. Professor Steven Tomlinson will take over the role of Chairperson from Dr Norman Mills. Dr Mills is retiring after six years as Chairperson. Ms Tanya Buchanan takes on the role of Director, replacing the retiring Ms Naomi King.