Back the smoking ban, say respiratory physicians

MUCH of the debate on the proposed ban on smoking in the workplace has focused on either the economic impact of days lost at work due to episodic illness or the incidence of lung cancer due to environmental tobacco smoke and smoking.

However, the single biggest cause of death from tobacco smoke is a disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Over 2.9 million adults die from COPD each year and it ranks as the fifth cause of mortality worldwide.