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Salutary smoke-free zones 

31 May 2022

Recently, it was revealed that the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) has launched a project to set up over 300 smoke-free zones in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), in a bid to reduce nonsmokers’ exposure to secondhand smoking. Even though there is a law in Sri Lanka that prohibits people from smoking in public places, the country does not see that law being implemented very often. In this context, secondhand smoking, especially in public places, remains a real issue that has unfortunately become so normalised that it does not receive the authorities’ attention. Despite these legal restraints, many can be seen smoking in public places, thus exposing nonsmokers to secondhand smoke. Although one may say that nonsmokers have the option of distancing themselves from smokers, it is not always practical, owing to the lack of space and congestion in certain public places such as bus stations and pavements, and at the same time, nonsmokers should not have to be in situations where they are forced to limit their movement to not be exposed to cigarette smoke. Even though the discussion on the effects of secondhand smoking revolves mainly around public places, other places such as workplaces, business establishments, and homes, can also be places where nonsmokers have to be exposed to secondhand smoking.  However, ensuring, not merely declaring, that public places are smoke-free zones could be a good start. Although the concept of smoke-free zones is a relatively new concept to Sri Lanka, it is quite prevalent in many countries on all continents. When it comes to the South Asian region, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan have taken notable policy and legal decisions to declare smoke-free zones. In this context, expanding smoke-free zones in Sri Lanka, is a timely initiative. One factor that has hindered this endeavour is Sri Lankans’ regressive attitudes regarding nonsmokers being exposed to cigarette smoke. While some do not see it as a big issue that needs to be addressed, some think that they do not have a right to speak against it. Above all, many Sri Lankans are not aware of the health effects of being exposed to secondhand smoking. According to international health experts, being exposed to secondhand smoke increases the risk of nonsmokers developing heart diseases by 25-30%, while being exposed to the same increases the risk of strokes in them by 20-30%. Also, nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoking are facing the risk of developing lung cancer by 20-30%. Breathing difficulties in adults and children is another major concern. In addition, being exposed to secondhand smoke poses a large number of health risks that Sri Lankans do not pay sufficient attention to, and in this context, smoke-free zones are actually a timely decision to protect even nonsmokers with no such knowledge, from cigarette smoke.  Most importantly, smokers have a huge role and responsibility with regard to the wellbeing of nonsmokers. While choosing to smoke is a right of any person of legal age, they have a moral obligation to ensure that nonsmokers, who did not choose to smoke or be exposed to smoke, are not exposed to secondhand smoke. At the same time, the aforementioned project, which facilitates this process, will most likely receive the support of even smokers.  Sri Lanka has already declared smoke-free zones in many contexts, such as in workplaces and public places. However, the “no smoking” policy is not being adhered to in many such places, and therefore, it is crucial to assess to what extent these zones have contributed to protect nonsmokers from cigarette smoke. The findings of such assessments should be employed when setting up new smoke-free zones, to ensure that the new zones are actually smoke-free.


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