Child asthma hospital admissions down after smoking ban

Smoke-free law linked to large fall in children admitted to hospital with asthma symptoms

21^st January 2013 - Making it illegal to smoke in public places like cafes, restaurants and shopping centres and on public transport, has led to a drop in the number of children (0-14) admitted to hospital in England with symptoms of asthma.

NHS statistics analysed by researchers at Imperial College London show a 12.3% fall in emergency admissions for childhood asthma in the first year after the smoking ban became law in July 2007. The researchers found that asthma admissions continued to fall in subsequent years, suggesting that the benefits of the legislation were sustained over time.

The effect, they say, is equivalent to 6,802 fewer hospital admissions in the first three years of the legislation. Their analysis is published in the journal Pediatrics.

Immediate effect

Asthma affects one in every 11 children in the UK. Before the law was implemented, hospital admissions for children suffering a severe asthma attack were increasing by 2.2% per year, peaking at 26,969 admissions in 2006/2007.

The trend reversed immediately after the law came into effect, with lower admission rates among boys and girls of all ages. There were similar reductions among children in wealthy and poor neighbourhoods, both in cities and in rural areas.

Substantial health benefits

Dr Christopher Millett, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the study, says in a press release: "There is already evidence that eliminating smoking from public places has resulted in substantial population health benefits in England, and this study shows that those benefits extend to reducing hospital admissions for childhood asthma.

"Previous studies have also suggested that the smoke-free law changed people's attitudes about exposing others to second-hand smoke and led more people to abstain from smoking voluntarily at home and in cars. We think that exposing children to less second-hand smoke in these settings probably played in important role in reducing asthma attacks."

Emily Humphreys, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Asthma UK, says in a media statement: "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.

"We have long known that smoking and second hand smoke are harmful - they not only trigger asthma attacks which put children in hospital but can even cause them to develop the condition."

Previous studies have shown that hospital admissions for childhood asthma also fell in Scotland and North America after smoke-free legislation was introduced.

Source: http://www.webmd.boots.com/asthma/news/20130121/child-asthma-smoking-ban

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