22.01.13
Asthma admissions fall after smoking ban
Hospital admissions for children with asthma have fallen since the smoking ban, a new study shows.
There have been 6,802 fewer cases of childhood asthma in the first three years of the ban, which was introduced in England in July 2007. Before the ban, admissions had been rising by 2.2% year on year.
The study, published in the journal Paediatrics, analysed statistics from April 2002 – November 2010. In the first year after the ban, hospital admissions for asthma fell by 12.3% and there were further falls of more than 3% in each of the following two years.
Christopher Millett, of Imperial College London, said: “The smoking ban has been an unqualified public health success. There is a whole array of benefits.”
Emily Humphreys, head of policy and public affairs at Asthma UK, said: “It's great to see growing evidence of the positive impact of smoke-free legislation. This is something we campaigned for, so it is particularly encouraging that there has been a fall in children's hospital admissions for asthma since its introduction.”
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