WorldWide Health News

Unlike most of Europe, smoking in public places throughout Asian’s largest economy is still rife, with it being possible to smoke at most public venues as well as on public transport, government offices and even in schools and child day care centres.  Last month, host city to the 2008 Olympic Games Beijing, pledged to inflict a smoking ban similar to that which is currently enforced within the UK on the city to coincide with the advent of the games which is due to start from the 1^st of May.

China, who are globally the largest producer of tobacco products, have the largest smoking population of any country with an estimated 320 million and growing. In October, the Chinese government’s Health Ministry began their first wave of anti-smoking measures which consisted of a complete ban on smoking in taxis, as well as launching various campaigns aimed at getting Government employees to give up and refrain from encouraging others by offering cigarettes as well as other measures. It is expected that the extension of the ban to cover more public places will be met with stern protest as with the sheer number of smokers within China this recreational habit has now become an integral part of life.

In addition to the Health Ministry’s efforts to combat smoking in public places, they have also rallied for an educational prevention by introducing informative classes on the dangers of smoking into the national curriculum within schools. A spokesman for the ministry when quoted by Beijing News said “Smoking rooms and zones are banned within teaching regions effective immediately. All teaching and administrative staff are vigorously encouraged to quit smoking”.

The exact weight of opposition that these changes in law will bring is at present unknown, however with these measures expected to add to the vast array of political issues, both at home and abroad, already blighting the success of the Beijing Olympic Games you can be sure that the authorities are hoping that this will be minimal at best.

A recent study, published in Paediatrics, has show evidence to suggest that women who smoke during pregnancy increase the risk of their unborn child developing a heart condition or defect. These heart defects, specifically relating to the walls which separate the different chambers of the heart, commonly known as a septal defect, were reported to be considerably higher amongst children whose mother smoked before their pregnancy or during the early stages.

The research, headed by Dr Sadia Malik and conducted on behalf of Medical Sciences in Little Rock at the University of Arkansas, evaluated 3,067 babies who were born with some heart problem that was unrelated to a genial condition. Information gathered from these subjects was then compared with that of 3,947 infants without any defects of the heart. It is important to note that Dr Malik and her team of researchers found no link between the development of septal defects and second-hand, or passive smoking.

When asked to comment on their findings, a spokesman for the study said “If even a fraction of congenital heart defects and other birth defects could be prevented by decreasing maternal tobacco use, it would result in improved reproductive outcomes and a saving of millions of health care dollars,”

Congenital Heart disease occurs in 1 out of every 100 births within the US, and with up to 28% of expecting mothers continuing with their smoking habit, it is hoped that this damning research will do much to sway them.