Mission: To make health a top priority for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Date:
Phase 1: November – December 2004
Phase 2: January – February 2005

Phase 1 target groups:

Primary target groups:

• Smokers
• Parents – both smoking and non-smoking

Secondary target groups

• General public

Phase 2 target groups:

Primary target group

• Employers

Secondary target group

• Employees
• General public

Phase 2
To encourage workplaces to introduce a smoking policy in the absence of legislation.

Campaign objectives:

• To increase knowledge of the major health effects of passive smoking
• To encourage smokers not to expose others to the damaging health effects of their smoking
• To support employers wishing to implement a voluntary smoking policy in the absence of legislation
• To encourage non-smokers to be less accepting of passive smoking
• To promote the Smokers’ Helpline service
• To increase the number of smokers likely to seriously consider quitting or making a quit attempt
• To encourage ex-smokers to stay quit
   

Background:
The Health Promotion Agency has developed and implemented a new public information campaign on smoking which focuses on the health effects of passive smoking. Passive smoking refers to ‘sidestream’ smoke released from the burning tip of a cigarette and ‘mainstream’ smoke – smoke inhaled and then exhaled by a smoker. Other terms used to describe passive smoking include involuntary smoking, second-hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke.

For more than a decade, scientific evidence has been available to demonstrate that exposure to passive smoking not only harms health but worsens existing health problems. The following have been highlighted as the major risks posed by passive smoking:

Lung cancer
Second-hand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer in adults.1 Non-smokers living with a smoker increase their risk of lung cancer by 20-30% compared to those who live in a non-smoking household.2 For non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke in the workplace, the risk of lung cancer is increased by 16-19%.2

Coronary heart disease and stroke
Second-hand smoke is proved to cause heart disease.3 Involuntary smoking increases the risk of an acute coronary event by 25-35%. Second-hand smoke also increases the risk of stroke.4 One study found that among non-smokers married to a smoker, the risk of stroke doubled.5

Asthma
For people with asthma second-hand smoke is not only associated with more severe symptoms but also reduced lung function and increased hospital admissions.6

Children
Second-hand smoke increases the risk of lower respiratory tract illness such as pneumonia, bronchitis, coughing and wheezing.7 Second-hand smoke can cause asthma attacks in children who are already affected by asthma.8 It is estimated that each year, more than 17,000 children under 5 years are admitted to UK hospitals because of respiratory illness caused by exposure to other people’s cigarette smoke.9

Chemicals
Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, some of which have marked irritant properties and some 60 are known or suspected carcinogens (cancer causing substances).10 Second-hand smoke involves exposure to all these substances. Click here to see references for all these statistics.

In August 2004 the HPA published research that assessed the attitudes of the general public in Northern Ireland towards smoking prohibitions or restrictions. The survey explored public awareness of the health risks of environmental tobacco smoke and to what extent the public are bothered by tobacco smoke in public places.

The research results revealed that awareness of the specific health risks of passive smoking, other than lung cancer, is low. Overall, 73% of respondents to the research survey indicated that environmental tobacco smoke did bother them to some extent and 70% of respondents thought that indoor public places in Northern Ireland should be completely smoke-free.

The research findings provided support for a campaign that would raise awareness of the damaging health effects of passive smoking, provide an opportunity to give non-smokers a voice and give smokers a new reason to quit or consider quitting.

The campaign:
Qualitative research in the form of focus groups was carried out during the development of the campaign to pre-test creative concepts and messages for the advertising and literature. Advertisements and support materials for both phases of the campaign carried the strapline:

Passive smoking – there’s nothing passive about it

Phase 1
The first phase of the ‘Passive smoking – there’s nothing passive about it’ campaign was launched on 9 November 2004 and included television advertising, which ran until 7 December 2004, and an information leaflet and poster.

Phase one included two television advertisements entitled ‘Safety’ and ‘In your face’. ‘Safety’ is set in the home and highlights that 85% of second-hand smoke is invisible and odourless. It shows how the dangerous particles in second-hand smoke can travel unseen from room to room, affecting the health of everyone in the house, particularly children. ‘In your face’ is set in a pub and shows a young man coughing and smoking around a non-smoker. It encourages non-smokers to question why they accept someone smoking around them when they wouldn’t tolerate someone coughing over them. The ad also aims to make smokers think twice before lighting up around others. Both television ads promote the Smokers’ Helpline on 0800 858585, which provides help and advice to smokers who are trying to quit.

Click here to view the 'safety' television advert

Click here to view the 'in your face' television advert

The campaign poster and leaflet which highlight the health effects of passive smoking were distributed to GP practices, pharmacies, dental practices and Social Security Offices across Northern Ireland. In addition, the information leaflet was made available to the public as an insert in local morning newspapers on 20 November 2004.

Phase 2
Phase two of the ‘Passive smoking – there’s nothing passive about it’ public information campaign began on 5 January 2005 with a new television ad highlighting the health effects of passive smoking in the workplace and an information pack to help employers implement a smoking policy. The television advertisement for this phase of the campaign will be broadcast until 2 February 2005.

The ad, entitled ‘Workplaces’ demonstrates how if even just one person smokes in a workplace everyone around them breathes in the dangerous smoke and gases that cause cancer, heart disease and stroke. Viewers are directed to the Smokers’ Helpline to order an information pack about implementing a smoking policy in workplaces.

Click here to view the 'workplace' television advert

The information pack entitled ‘Protecting your workforce from tobacco smoke. A guide for workplaces’ is still available through the Smokers’ Helpline and contains a practical, comprehensive guide to implementing a smoking policy; a sample workplace smoking policy; a factsheet on the health effects of passive smoking; an information leaflet and poster on passive smoking; as well as details on where to get materials to support staff who would like to stop smoking.

The information pack is also available to businesses in Northern Ireland through the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the Environmental Health Departments at local councils as well as the Central Health Promotion Resource Service at local Health and Social Services Boards.

10. Reducing the health consequences of smoking: 25 years of progress. A report of the Surgeon General. US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 1989.