Passive smoking highest in Hawke's Bay: survey

Hawke's Bay has the highest percentage of passive smokers in New Zealand, according to a new international health survey.

The European Community Respiratory Health Survey found that more than 29 per cent of people in Hawke's Bay were exposed to second-hand smoke, particularly from parents.

The study, reported in the Lancet medical journal, analysed data on 8000 people in the United States, 16 European countries, Australia and New Zealand.

The survey, aimed at finding a link between passive smoking and asthma, found higher rates of passive smoking in southern and central Europe, and lower rates in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Australia and Sweden.

In New Zealand, the survey covered Wellington, Christchurch and Hawke's Bay.

Of the 608 surveyed in New Zealand, passive smoking was found to be low in the workplace, but overall, Hawke's Bay was well ahead of the other centres on 29.2 per cent, compared with 24.4 per cent in Wellington and 21.8 per cent in Christchurch.

Huia Beattie, health promotions officer at the Public Health Unit in Napier, said the survey result saddened her, and she hoped proposed legislation encouraging smoke-free public spaces would help stem the problem.

The unit is involved in a smoke-free-homes policy, targeting Maori families in particular.

Staff have been distributing leaflets to doctors' surgeries, marae, schools and the Eastern Institute of Technology, encouraging people to remove ashtrays from their dining table and smoke outside.

But she said it was not exclusively a Maori problem and she would like to see more anti-smoking education and resources provided.

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY