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Smoke free legislation and evaluating its effect
e-mail: dipti_p_patel{at}hotmail.com
Since 26 March 2006, smoking has been prohibited in ‘wholly’ and ‘substantially enclosed public places’ in Scotland [1], and with the recent vote in the House of Commons to extend the prohibition of smoking to include ‘pubs that do not sell food and private members clubs’, it is possible that a comprehensive ban on smoking in enclosed public places will be implemented across the United Kingdom by mid 2007.
In anticipation that the smoke-free legislation will result in substantial health gains related to a decrease in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and personal tobacco consumption, Health Scotland, Information Services Division Scotland and the Scottish Executive have developed an evaluation framework to assess the expected short, intermediate and long-term health, attitudinal and cultural and economic outcomes [2].
This evaluation strategy concentrates on eight key outcome areas: knowledge and attitudes, ETS exposure, compliance, culture, smoking prevalence and tobacco consumption, tobacco-related morbidity and mortality, economic impacts on the hospitality sector and health inequalities.
Assessment of each outcome will be based on a combination of secondary analysis of routine health, behavioural and economic data as well as commissioned research.
The study findings will be combined with the routine monitoring data to provide an integrated overview, and it is anticipated that the results, when available (1 year after the implementation of the legislation), will significantly contribute to the international understanding of the effect of ETS exposure on health, and the broader social, cultural and economic impacts of smoke-free legislation.
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- The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005, Part 1. Edinburgh: The Stationery Office Ltd, 2005.
- Haw SJ, Gruer L, Amos A et al. Legislation on smoking in enclosed public places in Scotland: how will we evaluate the impact? J Public Health 2006;28:24–30.
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