What is being done to reduce nonsmokers exposure to secondhand smoke?
In January 2000, the DHHS launched Healthy People 2010, a comprehensive, nationwide health promotion and disease prevention agenda designed to help improve the health of all people in the United States during the first decade of the 21st century (9). Several objectives of this program relate to tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, including the goal of reducing the proportion of nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke from 65 percent to 45 percent by 2010 (9). More information about this program is available on the Healthy People 2010 Web site at http://www.healthypeople.gov/ on the Internet (9). Studies have shown that separating smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space may reduce, but not eliminate, nonsmokers exposure to secondhand smoke (7). Individuals can reduce their exposure to secondhand smoke by not allowing smoking in their home or car. Educational, clinical, and policy interventions have also been shown to reduce secondhand smoke exposure (9). Such policies
