Experts discuss smoke-free homes

Anti-smoking campaigners want more people to stub out the habit

Details of a highly regarded initiative to reduce smoking in the home are being discussed at a seminar in Dundee.

Anti-smoking campaigners from across the east of Scotland are meeting to discuss how to reduce tobacco use.

Ways of preventing children accessing cigarettes were also on the agenda at the conference, which was organised by ASH Scotland.

The campaign group said almost a quarter of deaths in Scotland every year were smoking-related.

Representatives from the NHS, councils and the voluntary sector in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Tayside, Forth Valley, Fife and West Lothian were attending the meeting.

Sheila Duffy from ASH Scotland said smoking was Scotland's biggest preventable killer, accounting for 24% of deaths every year.

This project will improve people's health and shows the message about the damaging effects of second hand smoke is really hitting home Liz Wigg Salford City Council

She said: "That is why it is important that tobacco control is not just a public health priority but an issue for the whole community.

"This seminar brings together people with an interest in reducing tobacco use.

"By tackling smoking and reducing the numbers who smoke, we can improve the health of people, increase the life expectancy of our nation, and reduce the impact of smoking related disease on our families, our communities, and our NHS."

The delegates were due to hear details of a project to promote smoke-free homes in Salford.

Tobacco trap

Organisers said it had "smashed" initial targets by attracting more than 1,000 participants in its first three months.

Liz Wigg from Salford City Council said: "The project aims to reduce people's exposure to smoke and to raise awareness of the consequences of exposure to second-hand smoke through a graded commitment of making your home free of harmful cigarette smoke.

"It is a community-owned service that employs locally-based advisors who are active in the community, offering personalised face to face advice and practical support.

"This project will improve people's health and shows the message about the damaging effects of second-hand smoke is really hitting home."

Tayside GP Dr Andrew Thomson also called for measures to make it more difficult for children to get hold of cigarettes.

He said: "By introducing a tobacco licensing system, banning vending machines, and making tobacco products more expensive, fewer children will be able to buy them.

"The younger someone starts to smoke, the less likely they are to give up.

"It is therefore essential that we break the tobacco trap."