More pubs will escape smoking ban than UK government has claimed
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《英国医生杂志》
The number of pubs in England that will be exempt from the government's proposed law on banning smoking because they do not serve food is far higher than previously estimated, a short survey conducted by the BMA indicates.
Nearly nine out of 10 (88%) of the pubs in Leeds do not serve food, estimates the city council. This is three times the government's top estimate of the number of pubs in all areas that will continue to allow smoking when the law is introduced in 2008.
Leeds City Council was one of 29 metropolitan, city, and London borough councils that responded to the BMA's request for figures on the proportion of pubs that did not prepare and serve food on their premises. The results undermine the government's claims that only 10% to 30% of pubs do not serve or prepare food and so would be exempt from laws banning smoking in pubic places, says the BMA.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the BMA, expressed her concern about how the government would implement its proposed law on smoking: "How does the government plan to implement its proposals when the information about non-food pubs is so hard to come by? A number of councils have told us that the government's proposals are unenforceable. The Labour government has just started its third term of office; it's time it showed leadership and banned smoking in all enclosed public places."
Almost half the survey respondents said the proportion of pubs that would escape the ban exceeded government estimates
Credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GETTY
The survey shows a north-south divide in the number of non-food pubs. Nine of the 10 councils with the highest proportion of non-food pubs are towns and cities in the north of England or in the Midlands. Altogether 13 of the 29 responding councils estimated that the proportion of non-food pubs in their area exceeded the government's estimate. Only one authority—the London borough of Bromley—estimated that the proportion of non-food pubs in its area fell below the estimate.
The results of the survey show that the government's plans will make health inequalities worse, says the BMA. Workers in lower socioeconomic groups are already more likely than those in other groups to be exposed to secondhand smoke, and now it seems that cities with the highest levels of unemployment and deprivation will offer the least protection from passive smoking.
"Just as the burden of smoking falls heavily on the poorest, so does the burden of passive smoking. While the professional classes work in smoke-free offices, low paid, casual, and service workers work in smoky environments, risking lung cancer to make a living," said Dr Nathanson.
However, the BMA stressed that the data should be treated with caution, as many councils were unable to provide even an estimate of the number of pubs that don't serve food.(Zosia Kmietowicz)
Nearly nine out of 10 (88%) of the pubs in Leeds do not serve food, estimates the city council. This is three times the government's top estimate of the number of pubs in all areas that will continue to allow smoking when the law is introduced in 2008.
Leeds City Council was one of 29 metropolitan, city, and London borough councils that responded to the BMA's request for figures on the proportion of pubs that did not prepare and serve food on their premises. The results undermine the government's claims that only 10% to 30% of pubs do not serve or prepare food and so would be exempt from laws banning smoking in pubic places, says the BMA.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the BMA, expressed her concern about how the government would implement its proposed law on smoking: "How does the government plan to implement its proposals when the information about non-food pubs is so hard to come by? A number of councils have told us that the government's proposals are unenforceable. The Labour government has just started its third term of office; it's time it showed leadership and banned smoking in all enclosed public places."
Almost half the survey respondents said the proportion of pubs that would escape the ban exceeded government estimates
Credit: NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/GETTY
The survey shows a north-south divide in the number of non-food pubs. Nine of the 10 councils with the highest proportion of non-food pubs are towns and cities in the north of England or in the Midlands. Altogether 13 of the 29 responding councils estimated that the proportion of non-food pubs in their area exceeded the government's estimate. Only one authority—the London borough of Bromley—estimated that the proportion of non-food pubs in its area fell below the estimate.
The results of the survey show that the government's plans will make health inequalities worse, says the BMA. Workers in lower socioeconomic groups are already more likely than those in other groups to be exposed to secondhand smoke, and now it seems that cities with the highest levels of unemployment and deprivation will offer the least protection from passive smoking.
"Just as the burden of smoking falls heavily on the poorest, so does the burden of passive smoking. While the professional classes work in smoke-free offices, low paid, casual, and service workers work in smoky environments, risking lung cancer to make a living," said Dr Nathanson.
However, the BMA stressed that the data should be treated with caution, as many councils were unable to provide even an estimate of the number of pubs that don't serve food.(Zosia Kmietowicz)