RE: Smoke-free ordinances

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@HOTMAIL.COM>]

>However, there is one point we must all consider: smoking drives up

the cost of health care.  Who pays for that?  We all do, through

increased taxes, health insurance premiums, and god knows what all

else.

----

Since 15 years back, I have two different work places:

1/ The Karolinska Institute - our departments (Medical Radiation 

Biology/CancerCentrum Karolinska, and Medical Radiation Physics) which are 

located in the Karolinska Hospital area.

2/ SwedPower/Vattenfall (largest electricity producer in Scandiavia) - a 

major work place with offices for more than 2000 employees.



The difference in the amount of smoking outside the main entrances is very 

striking (at both work places smoking is not allowed indoors): There is 

_much_ more smoking outside the main entrances of the Karolinska Hospital 

area (but not at KI campus). This is not only true for the cancer oriented 

units but also for most of the other ones - anything: Infections, 

endocrinology, orthopedics, thorax, skin diseases, emergencies,... My study 

is not a scientific one - I just observe - not only all the people smoking - 

but also the cigarette butts on the ground (many ash tray arrangements 

outside all the buildings).



The bottom line is that there seems to be a strong association between all 

sorts of medical problems and smoking. I don't mean that smoking causes 

broken legs but there may be life style factors involved - attitudes to many 

kinds of health risks.



Some pictures are etched into my mind for ever like the perhaps seven months 

pregnant woman who stood right outside "Radiumhemmet" (our main building for 

the treatment of cancer). I once (at age around 32) told an approx. twelve 

year old girl - in the nicest possible way - that smoking was not good for 

her and that she should try to be quit and be careful. She told me - "you 

old man - to go to Hell" - I never tried that trick again (I turn to the 

politicians directly instead but it doesn't seem to help much). We have now 

experienced a doubling in lung cancer deats among women in Sweden in twenty 

years.



My personal reflections only,



Bjorn Cedervall   bcradsafers@hotmail.com





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