Editorial: The big picture and the little picture ||FREE PAPER||

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Author: Richard Russell

Published Date May 2006 Volume 2006:1(2) Pages 97 - 97

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S

Richard Russell

Wexham Park Hospital, Berkshire, UK

The last quarter of 2005 and the beginning of 2006 have seen major changes in health legislation in the UK. Following the lead of many countries from around the world (New Zealand, Ireland, and Italy among others) the UK government, pushed along by individual members of Parliament, have decided to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces such as bars, pubs, and restaurants. This is a victory for the workers in these places and members of the public who visit, and the wider healthcare community who clearly expect there to be a decrease in smoking. One less obvious and yet more important result is that now there is a clear, coherent, and unified message coming from doctors, government, and workers that smoking is harmful and it should not and cannot be tolerated in a modern society.