English smoking ban to 'save 40,000 lives'

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

LONDON (AFP) — More than 400,000 people in England have given up smoking as a result of the ban on lighting up in public places introduced in July, according to a study published on Monday.

Researchers say 40,000 deaths will be prevented over the next decade as a result of the ban.

The Smoking Toolkit Study involved interviews with more than 32,000 smokers and ex-smokers over the nine months before the ban and the nine months afterwards.

Smoking was made an offence in all enclosed public spaces in England, including pubs and restaurants, on July 1, 2007, forcing smokers to take their cigarettes outside.

In the nine months preceding the ban, there was a 1.6 percent fall in the prevalence of smoking in England, but in the nine months after its...