Most workers worldwide still exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke

Despite rapid expansion of smokefree laws since 2004, most workers around the world are still exposed to tobacco smoke, according to a new report from the Global Smokefree Partnership (GSP). Working for a Smokefree Future - released to mark International Workers’ Day on 1 May - shows that 32 countries now have effective national or local smokefree laws, compared with just seven in 2004. Comprehensive smokefree laws have proved to be good for health, good for the economy, popular and enforceable.

Yet despite progress, more than nine out of ten people worldwide have no legal protection from secondhand smoke at work. Even in countries with smokefree laws, certain workplaces can be exempt – a particular problem in the hospitality sector. The report says that most of the world’s workers would be protected if the 154 countries that have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) met their commitments under the treaty to make all indoor workplaces and public places 100% smokefree with no exemptions.

Visit www.globalsmokefreepartnership.org to view the report.