Implementing a comprehensive smoking ban would reduce asthma-related medical visits in New Albany, doctors and medical officials said Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference sponsored by Floyd County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, or FCTPC, Richard Wilson, chair of the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Louisville, said statistics prove asthma cases decrease when a smoking ban is applied.

He pointed to a six-year study done by the University of Kentucky which allegedly shows asthma-related medical visits decreased by 24 percent in adults and 18 percent in children for an average of a 22 percent decline after Lexington, Ky., banned smoking in public establishments.

The study ruled out people who visited the hospital for asthma that lived outside of Lexington. The city adopted a smoke-free workplace law in 2004.

“The significance is that (a smoking ban) affects people in the short-term,” Wilson said.

Officials reported the study was controlled for seasonality, secular trends and demographics of the at-risk population. It took into account visits to emergency departments in four Lexington hospitals 40 months prior to the adoption of the smoke-free air law and 32 months afterward.

The majority of the decreases were in adults, which is common after smoke-free workplace laws are implemented according to the study.

The findings also point out a causal relationship between outdoor air pollution and morbidity and mortality for asthma, meaning indoor pollutants aren’t the only factor in asthma emergency room visits.

Wednesday’s press conference was held on a sidewalk in front of the City/County Building just a day after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Floyd County is among 19 Indiana counties in violation of standards for soot particles that can cause respiratory distress in children and the elderly.

According to an Associated Press report, counties on the EPA list will face pressure to cut levels of soot produced by power plants, diesel-burning trucks, cars and factories, as cutting fine-particle pollution would save 15,000 people a year from premature deaths due to heart and lung diseases aggravated by soot-filled air, according to the EPA.

Floyd County does rank among the highest counties in Indiana for asthma emergency room visits, according to data just released by the state’s Department of Health.

Floyd County reported 262 asthma-related emergency room visits in 2005, which ranked in the highest 25 percent of counties in the state.

A local physician feels a smoking ban would be an immediate answer to medical issues he deals with every day.

“Here’s a prescription for the (City) Council for the health of New Albany,” Dr. Eli Hallal said. “They need to pass this really comprehensive smoking law for the well-being of the customers of restaurants and the well-being of the workers that might not have a choice but to be there.”

Mark Truman, vice president of operations for Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services, said if all businesses in the nation were smoke-free it would equate to $49 million in medical savings in the first year of implementation.

He said the decision to turn Floyd Memorial into a smoke-free campus in 2006 was a great move.

“It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made for the health of our visitors, patients and employees,” Truman said.

The council is slated to vote on the final two readings of the smoking ordinance at 7:30 tonight. If passed, the ban will be implemented in 60 days.