British Doctors Urge Public Smoking Ban

Britain's most senior doctors urged the government to follow the example of Ireland and many other cities and impose a ban on smoking in public.

An alliance of doctors' leaders said passive smoking kills 1,000 people each year in Britain and causes asthma, lung infections and ear diseases in children.

The presidents of Britain's Royal Colleges of medicine, independent professional bodies, said a workplace ban alone would cut many deaths from passive smoking and could lead an estimated 300,000 people to give up.

"The time has come to make public places smoke-free," they wrote in a letter to the Times newspaper. "Most find cigarette smoke unpleasant and irritating and the majority of smokers and non-smokers would prefer public spaces to be smoke-free."

Lord Greville Janner -- a peer in the ruling Labor party and a long-term term campaigner against smoking -- welcomed the letter and said he would urge the government to heed its call.

"If this...is carried into effect, it will reduce deaths from both active and passive smoking by tens of thousands every year," he said in a statement.

But junior health minister Melanie Johnson rejected the idea of a ban, saying it would not get public support.

"The ban idea is still premature," she told BBC radio. "There is a great deal more to be done by way of public persuasion and education."

She said a lot more could be done to reduce smoking on a voluntary basis.

Anti-smoking campaign group ASH said that was not enough.

"If the government has rejected calls for a new law, then it must spell out what exactly it does intend to do about the problem," ASH director ASH Director Deborah Arnott said.

"To rely on voluntary action without clear timetable targets and government support would be to fail those whose health is threatened by second-hand smoke and to abandon a vital weapon in the armory of tobacco control."

In July, Britain's Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said the government should follow Ireland and New York and ban smoking in public places, including Britain's beloved pubs.

The European Commission said in September it was considering using worker safety laws to ban smoking in cafes, bars and restaurants. It has launched a series of measures to crack down on the habit, including a ban on tobacco advertising and stark warnings on cigarette packets.

Smoking kills more than 120,000 Britons each year and more and more young people are taking up the habit, according to the Department of Health.

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