From the MMWR for July 8, 2005 (volume 54, number 26):
Secondhand smoke is a known carcinogen. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes approximately 35,000 heart disease deaths and 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers in the United States every year.
One of the national health objectives for 2010 is to establish laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC) that prohibit or restrict smoking in public places and worksites. A related objective calls for all worksites to voluntarily implement policies that prohibit or restrict smoking.
During December 31, 1998--December 31, 2004, 10 states indicated changes in the level of their smoking restrictions for private-sector worksites, nine states indicated changes in the level of their smoking restrictions for restaurants, and five states indicated changes in the level of their smoking restrictions for bars, on the basis of the STATE System coding scheme. In every case, the restrictions became more stringent.
Much to my surprise, in none of the categories evaluated was California the most restrictive state.
Assessment of Local Health Department Smoking Policies --- North Carolina, July--August 2003
North Carolina's state smoking laws actually limit the restrictiveness of local smoking laws, except in the case of local health departments. Not all LHD directors are aware of this, however:
Among the LHD directors, 57 of 75 (76.0%) said they were very familiar or somewhat familiar with the preemptive provisions of North Carolina's state law on smoking in public places (9). However, 28 of 75 (37.3%) incorrectly believed the law prevented enactment and enforcement of a 100% tobacco-free policy on LHD grounds, and 15 (20.0%) said they did not know whether the law prohibited such a policy.
Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication --- India, January 2004--May 2005
Since 1988, the global incidence of polio has decreased by more than 99%, and three World Health Organization (WHO) regions (Americas, Western Pacific, and European) have been certified as polio-free (1). India, the largest of the six countries where polio remains endemic, experienced a large polio outbreak (1,600 cases) in 2002 (2). Since then, the Government of India (GOI) has accelerated its polio eradication activities by increasing the number and quality of supplementary immunization activities (SIAs),* which reduced the number of reported cases to 225 in 2003, 134 in 2004, and 18 in 2005 (as of June 18) (3). During 2004 and early 2005, taking advantage of the geographic restriction of wild poliovirus (WPV) circulation, GOI and its partners launched several immunization and surveillance strategies to maximize the probability of eliminating poliovirus transmission in India. With continued high-quality interventions, interruption of WPV transmission in India by the end of 2005 appears feasible
Of course, Africa is still a problem, especially with Islamic religious leaders in northern Nigeria spreading rumors about the vaccine (from 2003). The hit they took in missed vaccinations let Polio spread back into neighboring countries that had been previously cleared.