§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in view of the lack of evidence to support the Minister of Health's assertion that one 110WA non-smoker a day is dying from lung cancer caused by passive smoking, they will reassess the value of reports relating to the effects of passive smoking which rely only on estimates rather than proven facts.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)The estimate that around one non-smoker a day dies from lung cancer is intended to convey the order of magnitude of the risk from passive smoking. It is derived from the finding in the 4th Report of the Independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health, a copy of which is available in the Library, that people who have never smoked but who have been exposed to environmental tobacco smoke through most of their lives have a 10 per cent. to 30 per cent. higher risk of lung cancer than non-smokers not so exposed. This may amount to several hundred out of the current annual total of about 40,000 lung cancer deaths in the United Kingdom.
It is in the nature of epidemiological assessments that they do not provide "irrefutable evidence" on the exact numbers of deaths due to particular factors but the evidence does indicate that passive smoking is a significant public health issue in its own right.