Title of presenter

• Smokefree South West is commissioned by Directors of Public Health based in local authorities across the region

• Smokefree South West’s greatest aim is to make tobacco use less desirable and accessible, particularly for our children.

• This is achieved through high impact social marketing campaigns and collaborative working with a broad range of partners across the South West

• A key work stream for SFSW is Smokefree Environments which encompasses the Smokefree Homes Programme

.

What is Smokefree South West?

Why should homes be smoke free?• Smoking is the single, largest preventable cause of serious

ill health and kills tens of thousands of people in England every year.

• Smoking accounts for approximately half of the difference in life expectancy between the lowest and highest income groups.

• Smoking-related death rates are two to three times higher in low-income groups than in wealthier social groups.

• A smokefree home can contribute significantly to the health of children before and after birth.

Why secondhand smoke is a danger • Secondhand smoke (SHS) has been described as the most

dangerous common environmental air pollutant in developed countries.

• More than 80% of secondhand smoke is invisible and odourless, and contains harmful cancer-causing toxins and poisons.

• It is associated with cardiovascular disease, cancers, respiratory and reproductive problems in adults

• Children are more at risk. This has led to:

           - Over 20,000 cases of lower respiratory tract infection             - 120,000 cases of middle ear disease           - At least 22,000 new cases of wheeze and asthma             - 200 cases of bacterial meningitis             - 40 sudden infant deaths – one in five of all annual 

Sudden infant Deaths (SIDs)• Recent evidence has linked SHS to behavioural and learning

difficulties in children

What is ‘third hand’ smoke?

• Third hand smoke refers to the residual chemicals in the environment left behind by second hand smoke.

• Evidence has shown that toxic chemicals from second hand smoke stay on furnishings, carpets and interiors for months after a cigarette has been extinguished

Why is this important?

• Parents often believe that by leaning out of a window to smoke or smoking in a different room from their child, they are protecting them

• This is why smokers are requested to take the smoke right outside of the home.

          

Toxins stay on furnishings - even children’s toys

• 22% of South West adults claimed to allow smoking in the home in 2011 (You Gov 2011). Up from 20% in 2010.

• Smokefree South West set an ambitious aim to halve the number of adults in the South West who allow smoking in the home by 2015, reducing rates to 10% by 2015.

• Over the last two years, the South West Smokefree Homes campaign has contributed to phenomenal shifts in behaviour change, prompting an estimated 400,000 adults to smoke outside the home (2013 YouGov and 2011 Census data).

• Rates are now down to 13% - a dramatic 9% drop

Smokefree Homes Challenge

The Smokefree Homes Campaign activity to date

• To protect children and young people from the harms of second-hand smoke

• To protect families from the invisible toxins that remain in their home long after a cigarette has been extinguished

• To reduce the risk of fire caused by smoking cigarettes

• To contribute towards tackling health inequalities

• To protect the damage caused to home interiors from smoke

• To contribute towards a safer and healthier environment for young families to grow up in

Why get involved

We are making a difference

Initial results 2011

At the campaign’s peak, 30% of smokers claimed to have changed their behaviour and make a positive step towards quitting.

- 8% cut down - 2% set quit date - 5% Stopped smoking inside of home - 3% Stopped smoking in the car - 5% don’t smoke around children - 5% now smoke near an open window - 3% cut down on smoking in the home

Recall of the campaign has increased year on year and is now at its peak at 63%

Key Messages

• Pollution from SHS can linger for months in building interiors, including dust, carpets, furnishings & walls.

• These materials absorb the toxins in SHS and gradually release them back into the air, posing an additional risk of exposure.

• Approximately 80% of tobacco smoke is invisible.

Take the smoke right outside

How you can help

www.smokeoutside.co.uk/resources

Encourage members of the public to order an Information Pack

Information Pack Contents

• Information fact sheet

• Door Hanger

• Sun Screen

• Bird Whistle

• LSSS Referral Card

References and further reading

Doll R, Peto R et al. Mortality in relation to smoking: 40 years’ observations on male British doctors. BMJ1994;309:901-11

Office for National Statistics: General Lifestyle Survey 2008.NHS Information Centre. Statistics on Smoking in England. 2009.Law et al, BMJ 1997; Hackshaw et al BMJ 1997California EPA 1999Strachan and Cook, Thorax 1997WHO 1999Thirdhand Tobacco Smoke: Emerging Evidence and Arguments for a

Multidisciplinary Research Agenda Georg E. Matt et al.

Take the smoke right outside