Gov't to launch 'shock' smoke campaign
The Government is to launch a "shocking" new ad campaign to encourage people to stop smoking ahead of the July ban.
The campaign, Invisible Killer, will kick off with a TV advert on Monday showing cigarette smoke curling round guests at a wedding.
Smoking is harmful not just to smokers but to the people around themPublic health minister Caroline Flint
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Whilst most smokers and non-smokers believe secondhand smoke can cause harm, a new survey released today to support the campaign shows over half of smokers continue to smoke in a room with adult non-smokers, and a further quarter will still smoke when they're near children."
Launching the new campaign public health minister Caroline Flint said: "Smoking is harmful not just to smokers but to the people around them. What this new campaign brings home very clearly is the full impact of secondhand smoke. Eighty-five per cent of smoke may be invisible and odourless but it is still damaging people's health. Wafting and blowing away smoke may seem like the right thing to do but in reality, it makes little difference to the amount of secondhand smoke inhaled by people around you.
"With England going Smokefree on 1st July, there has never been a better time to stop smoking. We have already exceeded our three-year target to help 800,000 people quit by 2005/06, and still more and more people are successfully kicking the habit."
Professor Jarvis, University College London said: "Children are particularly affected by breathing the poisons in secondhand tobacco smoke, because their bodies are still developing. Their bronchial tubes and lungs are smaller and immune systems less developed, making them more vulnerable to the toxins in smoke. Despite smokers' efforts to blow their smoke away, or to not sit near children, they are still causing harm. People need to see secondhand smoke for the invisible killer that it is."
The ads will run until 8th April coinciding with National No Smoking Day on Wednesday 14th March.
