Almost 50 per cent of all smokers will attempt to give up cigarettes today, but very few will succeed without support, according to ASH (Action on Smoking and Health).
About 30 per cent of smokers are trying to quit the habit on any given day but this rises to nearly 50 per cent on Ash Wednesday, Dr Fenton Howell, ASH spokesman said yesterday.
Approximately 30 per cent of people in this State smoke but that would fall considerably if the Government increased its spend on anti-tobacco campaigns, he said.
In California, smoking rates had fallen to about 15 per cent because an average of €30 million (£23.6 million) a year was spent on anti-tobacco campaigns. "We spend nothing remotely like that on campaigns, a couple of million at the most," Dr Howell said.
He called for the banning of smoking in pubs and said it was essential in the interest of public health. While publicans said they would lose money if this ban was introduced, evidence proved otherwise. "In California, where smok- ing was banned in public places, tax receipts went up. Many people who didn't smoke were staying at home until the ban was introduced," he said. "The vintners must realise it's hugely successful because it's what the public wants."
An estimated 7,000 people die in this State every year from smoke-related disease, according to the Department of Health. About 50 per cent of all patients in Irish hospitals during the winter months are admitted because of smoke-related diseases.
These smoke-related illnesses and welfare payments are costing the economy more than €2.03 billion (£1.6 billion) per year, according to Mr Tom Power, chief executive of the Office of Tobacco Control. "That's not including lost production and absenteeism," he said. "But the cost that really concerns us is premature death,"
He said the OTC was very concerned at the increase in the number of young women smok- ing. The marketing and packaging of tobacco products was subliminally aimed at women because of their increased earning power, Mr Power said. Research found that women found it harder to quit smoking than men and this was being exploited by the tobacco industry.
Meanwhile, a new study has shown that children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy are four times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
In a study of 203 SIDS babies, 74 per cent of their mothers smok- ed when pregnant. The study also found that 63 per cent of fathers of SIDS cases smoked when their partner was pregnant.
Ms Mary McDonnell, registrar of the Irish Sudden Infant Death Association said the risk of death increased as the level of cigarette consumption increased.
"This increased risk of SIDS applies not only to maternal and paternal smoking but also to any other household members smoking, suggesting both an in-utero and post-natal environmental effect," she said. Ms McDonnell was speaking at a seminar on passive smoking yesterday.
Dr Marie Laffoy, public health director at the Eastern Regional Health Authority said maternal smoking was the most powerful determinant of poor foetal growth. "Maternal smoking in the third trimester has also been correlated with the onset of childhood asthma by the age of one year," she said.
