Around 59 Maltese residents are estimated to die as a result of passive smoking every year, according to a report by the Smoke-free Partnership and the European Heart Network. Seventeen of them are non-smokers who have been exposed to tobacco smoke.
The report says that some 79,000 people living in the 25 EU member states, out of a total population of 462 million, die annually due to passive smoking.
The report used data from Eurostat and the World Health Organisation and was compiled using a mathematical formula.
When contacted by The Times, Health Promotion Department head Mario Spiteri said that in some cases a smoker's death may be caused by inhaling other people's tobacco smoke.
"If you have a person who smokes three cigarettes a day but is exposed to other people's smoke all day long, this will have an adverse effect on him," he pointed out. The report - Lifting The Smokescreen: 10 reasons To Go Smoke-Free - estimates that six of the 59 in Malta die each year due to lung cancer, 31 due to heart disease related to smoking, 19 due to a stroke and three due to chronic respiratory disease.
Across the European Union passive smoking at work appeared to account for over 7,000 deaths in 2002, while passive smoking at home caused 72,000 deaths - one death every seven minutes.
Among non-smokers, passive smoking at home caused over 16,600 deaths - one death every 32 minutes - while passive smoking at work kills 2,800 Europeans, according to the report.
Moreover, passive smoking in the hospitality industry kills one employee every working day. One non-smoking employee dies every 3.5 working days.
The organisers of the EU-wide campaign Help For A Life Without Tobacco emphasised that the estimates, compiled by Konrad Jamrozik, a professor of Epidemiology, were very cautious, erring on the lower side.
They also omit deaths in childhood caused by passive smoking, deaths in adults from other conditions known to be caused by active smoking and the significant serious morbidity caused by passive smoking.
10 reasons for going smoke-free
• Second-hand smoke exposure kills and harms health.
• Every worker has the right to be protected from exposure to tobacco smoke.
• Scientific evidence shows that ventilation does not protect against exposure to tobacco smoke.
• Smoke-free laws do not result in negative economic effects.
• Freedom of choice includes the responsibility not to harm others.
• The public supports smoke-free legislation.
• The public complies with smoke-free legislation.
• It has been done elsewhere. It can be done everywhere.
• It is a cost-effective public health intervention.
• Comprehensive smoke-free policies work.