​Ban on smoking outside school gates backed by four in five people surveyed in Northern Ireland.

A recent survey found that found almost four in five (79.1%) want smoking outside the school gates to be banned to help protect children’s health.

Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland are now calling on the Department of Health to follow a ban introduced in Wales in March 2021 on smoking around schools, playgrounds and other locations used by children.

Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable ill health in Northern Ireland, contributing half of the difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest groups in society and is directly or indirectly linked to thousands of deaths in Northern Ireland annually.

Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland support the Department of Health’s goal of a smoke free Northern Ireland, but the charity wants to see a plan for further action. Whilst considerable progress has been made to reduce the number of adults who use tobacco products, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a concerning rise in new smokers aged between 18 and 34. This increase threatens to slow down the reduction of tobacco-linked disease prevalence over the next 25 years unless targeted action is taken to help these new smokers quit soon.

Passive smoking is harmful to everyone but is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, babies and children as their lungs are still growing. Children who breathe in second-hand smoke could increase the risk of developing asthma, hindering lung development, and resulting in their lungs becoming more sensitive to air pollution when they’re older.

Joseph Carter, head of Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland said: “We need to stop normalising smoking around children and protect their still developing lungs from breathing in harmful second-hand smoke. Our future generation’s health depends on the urgent and ambition policy making to ensure children’s health is protected. Northern Ireland lags behind all other UK nations and currently has no current target for a smoke-free NI. This needs to change.

“Although we welcome that the Tobacco Strategy Implementation Steering Group has now restarted, we yet to have any commitment on a date for a smoke-free NI. We need ambitious legislation so we can help protect children from the harms of smoking.

“We are urging the Department to follow the lead taken in Wales, and ban smoking around schools, playgrounds and other locations used by children.”

Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland is a charity in Northern Ireland fighting for everyone with a lung condition, aiming for a world where everyone can breathe with healthy lungs.