Smoking ban has lead to decline in asthma attacks in children

The number of children suffering asthma attacks in Scotland has fallen significantly per year following the introduction of the smoking ban.

New research has shown that the public smoking ban in 2006 has led to an 18% fall per year in the number of Scottish children who have serious asthma attacks.

The number of hospital admissions for asthma attacks was rising by 5% a year amongst children under 15 years old before the ban came into action. 

Critics of the ban argued that smokers would smoke more at home if they couldn’t smoke in other enclosed public places. The evidence from this latest research appears to show that it has had the opposite effect.

Dr. Jill Pell from the University of Glasgow, who worked on the study, believes that since the smoking ban “People are generally more accepting of the need to protect non smokers and vulnerable groups such as children."