Raising public awareness about the hazards of secondhand smoke requires a little creativity.

Employees

Employees can raise awareness of the dangerous health effects of passive smoking in many ways.

• Build support for smoke-free policies by providing employers with signs to post and leaflets to distribute that highlight the dangers of passive smoking to all workers. These materials can build support for the adoption of a smoke-free policy or can strengthen support for enforcement of an existing policy.
• Recruit union leaders and union workers to distribute brochures on the health effects of passive smoke in the workplace. (Be aware that the tobacco industry has been active worldwide in building alliances in the labor movement).
• Publicize lawsuits and workers' compensation actions for smoke-related illnesses and absenteeism.
• Provide brochures for workers subject to specific risks (e.g., musicians whose lung capacity is harmed by playing in smoky venues). You can recruit musicians to perform "smoke-free" concerts at which such brochures are distributed. Many singers will not sing if smoking is allowed during performances, especially at small clubs. Recruiting these performers as spokespeople can be valuable.
• Survey restaurant workers to see if they are aware of the many harmful effects of passive smoking. By including the short-term and long-term effects of passive smoking in the questions, the survey can educate restaurant employees.

The General Public

Public events provide outstanding opportunities to focus broad public attention on the health dangers of passive smoking. Events such as the annual WHO World No Tobacco Day, regional and national "smokeout" days, health fairs, and annual celebrations also provide good opportunities.

Romanian tobacco control advocates have developed creative plans for raising public awareness of the health hazards of passive smoking during their "Great National Smokeout." Their plans include:

• Issuing a press release and holding a press conference featuring:
  • Prominent doctors or health scientists - especially those who have quit smoking in their workplaces and homes.
  • Nonsmoking spouses suffering from smoke-related illnesses.
  • Nonsmoking coworkers suffering from smoke-related diseases.
  • A nonsmoking child who suffers from asthma.
• Distributing a short video news release illustrating the health dangers of passive smoking.
• Initiating a letter-writing campaign to elected officials and newspaper editors to make sure they know the health risks caused by passive smoking.
• Meeting with the editors of local newspapers and with reporters to educate them about the dangers of passive smoking.
• Preparing and distributing an editorial memorandum to newspaper and magazine editors describing the scientific evidence that passive smoking is harmful to nonsmokers and urging that editorials be written alerting readers to these hazards (Meeting personally with the editors to give them the material and to establish a relationship is most effective).
• Releasing helium-filled black balloons during the press conference, with each balloon representing 100 nonsmokers who will die of smoking-related diseases each year.
• Unveiling at the press conference a "passive smoking death clock," a prominently displayed billboard that will digitally add each day the projected number of nonsmokers who will die that day from passive smoking.
• Contacting popular television and radio talk shows to schedule a program on passive smoking and providing the names of prominent doctors or health scientists willing to serve as resources.
• Writing letters to ministers of health, asking that cigarette warning labels include warnings on the dangers of passive smoking (Brazil and Canada both have warning labels that could be used as models).
• Distributing 30- to 60-second public service announcements demonstrating the hazards of secondhand smoke.
• Displaying posters, perhaps those of contest winners from local schools, illustrating the hazards of passive tobacco smoke.
• Working with government and business leaders to place public service announcements about secondhand smoke on bus and train tickets, telephone cards, and Web site banners.
• Distributing stickers for health volunteers to attach to restaurant bills (Sample messages include "Passive smoking kills;" or "Respect the health of others: don't smoke;" or "Children exposed to passive smoking are more likely to develop asthma".)
• Preparing brochures and posters on the hazards of passive smoking to be distributed to hospital and clinic directors, directors of nursing, and medical staffs.
• Ensuring that passive smoking is addressed in prenatal parent education programs at local hospitals by providing information about its effects on infants and children.
• Using St. Valentine's Day (14 February) - if your country celebrates it - as an occasion to publicize the harm secondhand smoke can cause to the heart.
• Focusing on the dangers of passive smoking should not be a once-a-year activity. Many of Romania's ideas can be initiated at any time throughout the year. The more sustained the activity you generate, the greater its impact will be.

Parents

Expecting and new parents may be the most open audience to hearing and taking seriously messages about the harm passive smoking causes to children. Approaching the leadership of medical societies for obstetricians, midwives, pediatric nurses, and pediatricians can be very effective. Encourage these leaders to speak at society conferences about the dangers of passive smoke, to focus on passive smoke in society newsletter articles, and to distribute brochures about passive smoking's health effects on infants and small children.

Tobacco control advocates and health authorities should encourage the publishers and producers of magazines, television shows, and radio programs for parents to include program segments and announcements on the hazards of passive smoking. They can also distribute leaflets outlining the risks of passive smoking to parents and coaches at children's soccer matches and other sporting events.