英医师呼吁禁止在一切车辆内吸烟

Smoking should be banned in all cars as well as in public places where young people congregate¹, doctors are urging.

英国医师呼吁，禁止在一切汽车内、以及年轻人聚集的公共场所吸烟。

Whether there is a child on board or not, the RCP wants this banned

The Royal College of Physicians wants England's imminent²（迫近的，即将来临的） review of anti-smoking laws to consider such measures to protect the young.

It says passive smoking results in 300,000 extra child visits to GPs in the UK every year for problems such as asthma³（哮喘，气喘） and bacterial⁴ meningitis（脑膜炎） .

But driving and smoking lobby groups say cars are a "private space".

Wheezing⁵

A number of medical bodies have supported a ban on smoking in cars transporting children, but the RCP goes a significant step further, urging a blanket ban on anyone lighting⁶ up（点火） in a vehicle - regardless of whether children or indeed any other passengers are inside.

It is calling for a two-pronged approach which would see children protected from second-hand⁷ smoke and shielded from the sight of adults smoking - whether in the playground or on the TV.

The RCP's report - Passive Smoking and Children - is being released ahead of the three-year review of the ban on smoking in enclosed（封闭的） public spaces in England. Similar bans have been introduced across the UK, with Scotland having led the way.

Drawing on a series of studies, the report suggests that in the UK, tens of thousands of youngsters are falling ill as a result of exposure to cigarette smoke.

Exclusion⁸ zones

These calculations include 20,000 chest infections, some 22,000 new cases of asthma and wheezing（哮喘，气喘） , as well as 200 cases of bacterial meningitis and 40 cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome⁹（婴儿猝死综合症） - or cot death.

Each year it claims these account for more than 300,000 visits to a GP - some of which end up in hospital - costing the NHS £23.3m.

The report does concede（承认，退让） that these figures are only estimates, but says it is confident they give an "indication" of the number of children who become ill.

The doctors acknowledge that a ban on smoking in the home, however desirable it believes this to be, would be neither politically or practically possible, but sees the car as an intervention¹⁰ in the private sphere（范围，球体） which the public would tolerate.

But it argues that the only way to make it practically enforceable would be to introduce it as a blanket ban on all private vehicles - regardless of their passengers, as exemptions¹¹（免税额，免除） would prove too complex.

In addition, it wants to see smoking banned in places frequented by children, such as parks and outdoor swimming pools - and exclusion zones（隔离区域） outside school gates.

Campaigns to explain to parents the importance of a smoke-free home, price hikes and generic¹² cigarette packaging are also among the recommendations issued.

"This report isn't just about protecting children from passive smoking, it's about taking smoking completely out of children's lives," says Professor John Britton, head of the college's Tobacco Advisory¹³ Group and lead author of the report.