June 27, 2006
Health Officials Praise Surgeon General Report
State health officials on Tuesday applauded a new U.S. Surgeon General’s Report that reaffirms secondhand tobacco smoke as a serious public health threat.
The report, released Tuesday in Washington, D.C., shows that there is no longer any scientific debate about whether secondhand tobacco smoke causes serious diseases. It asserts that the only way to protect the public from this known health hazard is to eliminate exposure.
“The Surgeon General’s report is the most highly respected scientific source of information on smoking and health,” said Dr. Steven Helgerson, State Medical Officer at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). “This report’s conclusion reaffirms the policy direction and actions taken by the State of Montana to protect its citizens from this known health hazard.”
The report summarizes the scientific evidence that has led every major public health organization and scientific authority to conclude that secondhand tobacco smoke isn’t just an annoyance, but a serious threat to the public’s health. It also affirms the broad scientific consensus that secondhand tobacco smoke causes lung cancer, heart disease, sudden infant death syndrome, low birth weight, asthma, bronchitis, and other serious illnesses and is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year in the United States.
“At least 1,400 Montanans will die prematurely this year from smoking,” Dr. Helgerson said. “But because of the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act, far fewer will suffer illness and premature death from secondhand smoke exposure.”
Montana is one of 14 states (as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico) that have passed comprehensive smoke-free laws to protect the public from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, according to Linda Lee, manager of the Tobacco Use Prevention Program of DPHHS. Hundreds of cities and counties across the nation have taken similar action, as have whole countries, including Ireland, England, Scotland, Uruguay, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Italy, Bhutan, and Bermuda.
“Montana citizens are breathing cleaner and safer air than they probably were a year ago,” said Dr. Richard Sargent, a family practice physician in Helena and a member of the Tobacco Use Prevention Advisory Board. “With the irrefutable evidence we have today, there is simply no reason why anyone should have to breathe the more than 4,000 chemicals and 60 known cancer-causing toxins contained in secondhand tobacco smoke to earn a paycheck or as a consequence of patronizing a business open to the public.”
The Montana Clean Indoor Air Act covers most indoor public places. The exception is stand-alone bars, which the law requires to be smoke-free by October 2009.
The Surgeon General’s report is the most comprehensive scientific report ever produced on the harmful effects of secondhand tobacco smoke. It builds upon a previous report released by the Surgeon General in 1986.
“Factual, credible information such as that contained in the Surgeon General’s report has helped to raise awareness of the true danger of breathing secondhand tobacco smoke, bringing this important public health issue into sharp focus in recent years,” said Dr. Helgerson. “As a result, many Montanans are now getting the protection they deserve from this dangerous exposure. I encourage every business in Montana to become smoke-free.”
More information about the new Surgeon General’s Report can be found at www.cdc.gov/tobacco/.
More information about the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act is available at www.tobaccofree.mt.gov or by calling the Tobacco Use Prevention Program at (406) 444-7408.
Page last updated: 06/27/2006
