Two things stand out: one is that the problem of secondary smoke in the home seems to be the preserve of people from 'poorer backgrounds'. Does this mean that the list of alleged ill effects are also related with being poor?
More than half of babies and young children from poorer backgrounds are regularly exposed to SHS in the home, compared with less than a fifth of UK children from families with a professional background. Exposure to SHS in childhood is associated with reduced lung function, middle ear disease, an increased risk of respiratory symptoms and a higher incidence of respiratory tract infections. SHS exposure has also been shown to be a cause of cot death.The second is that this event seems to have been set up to 'qualify' relevant personnel in talking people out of smoking at home, by the award of Learning Outcomes in the National Health Service 'Knowledge and Skills Framework'. The link 'Learning Outcomes' on the page linked above sets out the details in a Word document.
This conference (thanks to NHS Scotland funding) is free of charge. Magnificent: Scottish national certificates in attempting to convert stubborn smokers in deprived areas ... whatever will they think of next?
1 comment:
whatever will they think of next?
My concern about 'targetting the poor' is that some local council will make it a social housing tenancy condition. Starting with new tenants of course, then splitting off other groups and picking them off one by one. This perhaps ties in with the ideas about giving councils more power. (Although this may also be EU related). Once one starts then each tries to out-do the other. This is how it seems to work in the US.
Perhaps the state of the economy will have an impact.
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