Among the many benevolent policies that world leaders have implemented, bans on smoking are certainly one of the most beneficial and lasting in terms of saving lives. The smoking ban in public places in the United Kingdom has helped to save the lives of more than 11,000 people who would otherwise die of passive smoking annually.

In the USA, the strict anti-smoking laws in the state of California alone will have saved 5,000 lives in 2010, and did save the lives of more than 50,000 people in the past 15 years. 

Her Excellency Sylvia Masebo, Minister of Local Government and Housing of Zambia, courageously implemented the statutory smoking ban in the country’s public places on May 28, 2008. Offenders will face a fine or jail, and possibly both. It was a firm decision she had made, she stated, “because of the hazardous effects it has on non-smokers who are forced to be passive smokers.”