MP backs Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week

12.00.00am GMT Wed 6th Dec 2006

Cambridge MP David Howarth is backing the UK's first Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week, which is being launched by CO-Awareness and others at the House of Commons on Tuesday 5th December 2006.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning, usually the result of poorly maintained boilers or other domestic appliances, is thought to kill 50 people in Britain every year and death rates are rising.

David Howarth said:

"Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week is intended to bring the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning to the public's attention.

David Howarth MP

"I urge people in Cambridge to take precautions to protect themselves and their families, by making sure that their domestic appliances are maintained and Carbon Monoxide alarms are fitted in their homes."

Lynn Griffiths, President of the CO-Awareness Campaign, whose own children were all poisoned by CO, said:

"We believe knowledge is the key to preventing Carbon Monoxide poisoning. In most cases of accidental poisonings, victims don't realize the Carbon Monoxide was being produced or building up in the air they were breathing.

"CO is the most commons poison in the UK today. There is no large scale public information campaign about it and it is not routinely tested for at post mortems. As well as raising public awareness, we need to make sure all doctors, especially those in emergency departments and GPs, are aware of the symptoms that Carbon Monoxide can cause.

"It should not take a tragedy to alert the British public to its dangers. Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week therefore seeks to address all these issues. We must no longer stay silent about this silent killer."