Children Need To Be Protected From Tobacco Addiction, Says British Medical Association, UK

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 02 Jun 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The BMA said it was essential to help children say no to cigarettes, in its response to the Government consultation on tobacco control1, launched recently. Dr Vivienne Nathanson, Head of BMA Science and Ethics, said:

"Many of the proposals outlined in today's tobacco control consultation were put forward in a recent BMA report 'Breaking the cycle of children's exposure to tobacco smoke' and it is good news that the Government has taken many of our recommendations on board.

"It essential that cigarettes are made more inaccessible to children and one way to do this is to ban ten-packs of cigarettes and to get rid of tobacco vending machines.

"We need to break the tobacco trap. Young smokers will become tomorrow's parents who smoke and they will continue the cycle of smoking-related ill-health and premature death. The BMA will be responding in full to this consultation and our primary objective will be to protect children's health and help smokers quit."

1 The consultation is England only

British Medical Association

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