Compelling reasons for a Cyprus Smoking Ban

A new Cyprus-wide regulation was supposed to be in force as from January 1st 2010, that would have effectively put an end to Smoking in public indoor places. This encouraging development would have been warmly welcomed by many conscientious parents, pregnant women, the elderly, asthmatics and by the non smoking community in Cyprus, who until now have had to suffer in silence from a comfort and health perspective. Sadly at the threshold of implementing an life saving law, the Cypriot Government flip-flopped on the issue and last night we learned that the new regulation will not come into force until May 2010, which is probably enough time for a few more potential deaths to occur and means an uncomfortable winter for the above-mentioned people.

The reason given for this uncertainty of this postponement was that the Restaurants and Bars are not yet ready. Courage and conscience are powerful attributes and it appears they were in short supply when this decision was made. The mighty and far more complex countries (in terms of implementation) such as France, Italy, UK, Ireland and more besides were resolute and demonstrated strength when implementing this law, which has long since been in force (see Country Smoking ban for a worldwide list).

The evidence is cast iron and presently its nigh impossible to avoid passive Smoking in Cyprus as often little consideration for other is given by Smokers. If people still need convincing why this law should be brought into effect, we kindly ask all Smokers, Restaurant owners/managers and representatives of the Government that were supposed to enforce the rule to read this:-

Smoke free environment by EU

Tobacco is the single largest cause of avoidable death, disease and disability in the European Union (EU), claiming around 650 thousand lives each year.

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), also referred to as second-hand tobacco smoke, is a significant additional source of mortality, morbidity and disability in the EU. ETS contains over 4000 gaseous and particulate compounds, including 69 known carcinogens and many toxic agents.

There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke. ETS has been shown to have immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and to be a cause of coronary heart disease and lung cancer in adults. There is also evidence that ETS may cause stroke, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults and worsen pre-existing conditions such as asthma and COPD.

ETS is also particularly harmful to children, causing asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis, respiratory symptoms, middle ear disease, and sudden infant death syndrome. In addition to the health risk, exposure to tobacco smoke at home and in public places could increase children's perceptions about smoking as common adult behaviour and thus could make it more likely that they will become smokers themselves.

According to conservative estimates, 7,300 adults including 2,800 non-smokers died as a result of ETS exposure at their workplace in the EU-25 in 2002. The deaths of a further

72,000 people, including an alarming 16,400 non-smokers, were caused by ETS exposure at home. The Impact Assessment accompanying this proposal estimates that workplace exposure to ETS accounted for 6,000 deaths, including 2,500 non-smokers, in the EU in 2008. This translates into a significant cost to the economy, including over 1.3 billion euro in direct medical costs and over 1.1 billion euro in indirect costs linked to productivity losses. A significant additional health and financial burden is associated with exposure to tobacco smoke suffered by non-staff members such as the customers of bars and restaurants.

Great progress towards smoke-free environments has however been made in recent years in some EU Member States. So far, comprehensive smoke-free laws covering indoor workplaces and public places have been adopted in over a third of EU Member States. However, significant differences in the level of protection from exposure to tobacco smoke persist both between and within Member States. Hospitality workers are the most vulnerable occupational group due to the lack of comprehensive protection in the majority of Member States and the exceptionally high concentrations of tobacco smoke in bars and restaurants.

The European Commission has adopted, after extensive consultation, a proposal for a European Union Council Recommendation calling on all the EU Member States to bring in laws to protect their citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke by 2012

The aim of the Recommendation is to assist and encourage national efforts to better protect citizens from the risks of tobacco smoke, in line with international commitments under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The Recommendation would also create mechanisms to monitor progress towards smoke-free environments throughout the EU and facilitate the exchange of best practices and policy coordination between Member States.