A new study has shown that when the smoking ban was introduced, thousands of heart attacks were prevented.
The study is the first comprehensive examination of hospital admissions before and after the ban. The team considered all emergency patients admitted between July 2002 and September 2008, taking into account other factors, such as local population size or weather conditions.
The team discovered that there was a 2.4% drop in the number of people experiencing heart attacks after the ban was introduced.
The British Heart Foundation has estimated that this means on average, 3 fewer people do not experience a heart attack each day. Both smokers and those who were forced to inhale passive smoke in public spaces like pubs have benefited. In total, 100 people per month and 1,200 people each year fewer developed heart problems.
The research was carried out by researchers from the University of Bath. Their findings have been published in the British Medical Journal.
Anna Gilmore, the director of the Tobacco Control Research Group, said that even though the numbers were fairly small, when the large number of people suffering heart attacks each year was taken into account, even a relatively small reduction had ‘important public health benefits’.