Rethink: Smoking ban response

Monday, 17, Jul 2006 12:00

Rethink responds to government’s plans to ban smoking in public places

Rethink welcomes the government’s plans to include people with mental health problems in any health promotion drives that encourage people to stop smoking. Rethink believe that people with severe mental illness should be treated in the same way as other people, free from stigma and discrimination. However, we seek recognition of the problem of severe mental illness and smoking that needs to be addressed by providing help to such people to enable them to quit; said Rethink Chief Executive Cliff Prior.

Rethink are concerned that the rights of people facing compulsory treatment to smoke are restricted by the plans. People facing compulsory treatment are there by force and should be allowed to retain as many of their personal rights in hospital as possible; including smoking.

Rethink calls on the government to provide tailored and targeted smoking cessation policies for people with severe mental illness when the ban comes into force. We know that an overwhelming majority of people with severe mental illness are not offered tailored smoking cessation programmes, like the one at the Rethink Croft day service in Ripley, Derbyshire, which has been very successful in helping people quit. The government must also address wider issues relating to stress and boredom on psychiatric wards, as these contribute to people continuing to smoke.

If people facing compulsory treatment in hospital are not permitted to smoke, the government has to make clear how plans to help people with mental health problems stop smoking will be put in place.

Some key facts on smoking and people with mental health problems:

• The majority of people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder smoke

• People with psychotic disorder who live in institutions are particularly vulnerable: over 70% of this group smoke including 52% who are heavy smokers; more than half wanted to give up smoking

• People with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have between 2 and 4 times the rates of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases of the general population.

For more information, please contact Alita Howe, Media Officer on 020 7330 9149, alita.howe@rethink.org or Liz Nightingale, Media Volunteers Manager on 020 7330 9112, liz.nightingale@rethink.org

For more than 30 years Rethink has been at the forefront of campaigning for the best for everyone affected by severe mental illness.