Record number attend quit-smoking classes

Information about the harm caused by smoking seems to be having an effect, with a record number of people attending smoke cessation classes organised by the Health Promotion Department.

Department head Mario Spiteri told The Times that in the first six months of the year, 18 classes had been conducted with an average attendance of 28 in each. Another eight classes are expected to be held until October.

The department also carries out smoking cessation classes in some workplaces, while between 10 - 15 special cases - including pregnant women and some patients with heart problems - receive help on a one-to-one basis every week.

He said the effectiveness of the department's anti-smoking campaigns was also indicated by an increase in requests for nicotine replacement treatment.

Dr Spiteri described as positive the final report by the Malta Standards Authority's technical committee on air quality in entertainment establishments, drawn up under new regulations prohibiting smoking in public places. He said the specifications would be easy to enforce.

The regulations came into force last April but entertainment establishments were given between six months and a year to comply. The committee's report, presented to Health Minister Louis Deguara last week, states that these establishments will either have to have a separate smoking room or be wholly non-smoking.

An MSA official had told The Times there was no evidence showing that air-cleaning equipment - an idea backed by the Malta Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU - was effective enough.

Dr Spiteri reiterated that research by the committee, including department representatives, showed it was not feasible to install such equipment. It was only by separating the smoking from the non-smoking areas, so the air did not mingle, that an acceptable level of air could be ensured.

This meant, he said, that some small establishments which could not have a separate smoking room would have to make their establishment wholly non-smoking. However, the local weather, especially in summer, enabled a number of establishments to operate outside, where people will be able to smoke.

Dr Spiteri explained that even inside smoking areas there were a number of criteria laid down to limit the damage caused by cigarette smoke, even among the smokers themselves.

Contacted this week, World Medical Association president Jim Appleyard stressed that smoke-free laws have been associated with significant reduction in heart disease. The United Kingdom's Royal Medical Colleges has estimated that smoke-free public places could save 160,000 lives a year in the UK.

Dr Appleyard said non-smoking areas offer partial to no protection against second hand smoke. "Many toxins in second-hand smoke are invisible odourless gases which are not removed by ventilation and air filtering systems. We know of no acceptable level of these toxins, as filtered tobacco smoke can have the same potential to cause cancer as unfiltered smoke," he said.

It has been found that smoke-free places may reduce the risk of young people taking up smoking, he added.