No Smoking* !

If you think passive smoking is just that - passive... think again.

There is sound scientific evidence endorsed by the World Health Organization, that passive smoking or the inhalation of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) poses a substantial threat to the health of the involuntary smoker in a similar way that active smoking affects smokers.

World Health Organization (WHO) 1999 estimates indicate that four million people, or one person every eight seconds, die globally from tobacco related disease and illness; many of these are affected through ETS.

The world’s major public health agencies have concluded that ETS is a significant hazard to the health of non-smokers. There is no known safe level of exposure to ETS; the level of ill health and death it causes is considerable as it contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, including 60 known carcinogens.

In view of similarity between ETS and Mainstream Smoke, and the considerable likelihood for exposure of non-smokers to ETS, passive smoking is potentially a substantial public health concern.

Smoking or not smoking is a choice which individuals make. I urge you to consider the next time you strike the match that you spare a thought to those who have chosen not to smoke.

*copied from an awareness mail sent by my company's HR