Excellent anti-smoking letter by Esther Morris of Mid-Levels as published today in the South China Morning Post "Talkback" column:
I write with reference to Sherry Lee's article "Hungry to stoke a smouldering issue" (May 9), according to which restaurant owner Richard Feldman objects to a total ban on smoking because it would deprive smokers of their "rights".I would like to know which particular rights Mr Feldman is referring to.
Presumably he is talking about liberty, but can such liberty be justified at the expense of another person's right to well-being?
The universality of human rights requires that each person act with due regard for other persons' freedom and well-being as well as for their own. This implies there is a responsibility as well as a right. Smokers, who are in the minority, impose the effects of their habit on non-smokers, who are the majority. How can this be right?
Hong Kong desperately needs to improve its image with the rest of the world. Banning smoking in restaurants would be a step in the right direction.
ESTHER MORRIS, MID-LEVELS
Dr Margaret Cheng, in her "Doctor" column today in the South China Morning Post started out her article titled "Tobacco treaty" this way:
Remember those protest marches by waiters and bar staff against plans to ban smoking in restaurants and bars? It was going to ruin their business and put them all out of work, they said.A year on, a lot of them have lost their jobs. But the ban on smoking had nothing to do with it. Air quality, or the fear that air quality is not good or safe enough, has had everything to do with it.
While Sars has managed to do what the smoking ban couldn't — all the evidence in other countries is that more people use restaurants and bars once smokers stop polluting them — Hong Kong has had a lot to do with moving the world towards a healthy smoke-free status.
How? Dr Judith Mackay (a former South China Morning Post health columnist) has worked tirelessly for nearly a decade to get the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) — which aims at curbing tobacco-related deaths and diseases — passed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Of course, I am all for this! More info on the FCTC:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/prwha1/en
http://tobacco.who.int
Tobacco Smoke Pollution: the hard facts
10 reasons to make public places smokefree
Contents Download the report from this link:
http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/books/smokefree/smokefree.pdf
Environmental tobacco smoke kills
Environmental tobacco smoke harms children
Employers have a duty to protect their staff
Freedom of choice is important
Most people dislike environmental tobacco smoke
Smoking areas and ventilation don't work
Voluntary self regulation in pubs has failed
Children exposed to smoking role models are more likely to smoke themselves
Smoking causes fires
Smokefree policies help people to quit smoking
"A review of the 40 years since the publication of the 1962 report of the RCP on Smoking and Health. The humble cigarette is responsible for a dozen times more deaths in the UK in the past 40 years than British casualties from World War II – over 5 million." http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/news/smoking.asp
The UK's medical Royal Colleges and their Faculties believe that the time has come for legislation to make public places smoke free. All the Colleges and Faculties are supporting the document launched today by the Royal College of Physicians - ‘Tobacco Smoke Pollution: The Hard Facts'
In a letter in today's Times newspaper, the Presidents of the Royal Colleges and Faculties explain why a ban on smoking in public places is necessary:
“Passive smoking causes an estimated 1,000 deaths in adults each year and causes asthma, lung infections and middle ear disease in children. The great majority of people in the UK - 80% - are now non-smokers. Most find cigarette smoke unpleasant and irritating and the majority of smokers and non-smokers alike would prefer public places to be smoke free. All have a right to freedom from tobacco smoke pollution.
Most public places are somebody's workplace, and employers have a duty to protect employees from harm. Many workplaces are now smoke-free but in the hospitality industry, smoke exposure is still very high and poses a particular risk. The voluntary system of self-regulation has failed to protect the majority of staff or customers.
Most smokers want to quit smoking and smoke free policies help them to do so. If all workplaces that currently permit smoking in Britain became smoke free, it is estimated that more than 300,000 people would quit smoking and in the longer term more than 150,000 lives would be saved. The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, in his annual report, called for consideration of a ban on smoking in public places. As doctors, seeing the daily consequences of smoking and passive smoking, we agree and call on the Government to introduce legislation at the earliest possible opportunity.”
The UK medical Royal Colleges and Faculties supporting ‘Tobacco Smoke Pollution; The Hard Facts':
Dr Dan Ash, President, Royal College of Radiologists; Mr Nick Astbury, President, Royal College of Ophthalmologists; Professor Carol Black, President, Royal College of Physicians; Professor Alan Craft, President, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health; Professor William Dunlop, President, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists; Dr Niall Finlayson, President, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh; Dr Brian Gennery, President, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine; Professor Sian Griffiths, President, Faculty of Public Health; Dr Bill Gunnyeon, President, Faculty of Occupational Medicine; Professor David Haslam, Chairman of Council, Royal College of General Practitioners; Professor Ross Lorimer, President, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow; Mr John Lowry, Dean, Faculty of Dental Surgery; Dr Alastair McGowan, President, Faculty of Accident and Emergency Medicine; Sir Peter Morris, President, Royal College of Surgeons of England; Dr Mike Shooter, President, Royal College of Psychiatrists; Dr Peter Simpson, President, Royal College of Anaesthetists; Dr John Smith, President, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; Professor James Underwood; President, Royal College of Pathologists
http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/books/smokefree/index.htm