New research claiming that smoking bans in public places cut heart attacks by a third offers further convincing proof of the dangers long associated with tobacco, Seventh-day Adventist health experts say.

Published in Circulation -- a weekly American Heart Association journal on cardiovascular medicine -- the University of California-San Francisco study bolsters evidence already linking secondhand smoking to heart attacks, a Reuters report said last week.

Compiling data from 13 studies of smoking bans in communities across the United States, Canada and Europe, researchers found that heart attacks dropped by as much as 36 percent three years after bans were introduced, the report said.

"As early as 1866, the fledgling Adventist church linked tobacco to poor health, and we were very vocal about something that wasn't accepted by the mainstream medical community until the '50s and '60s," said Dr. Peter Landless, a cardiologist and associate director for the world church's department of Health Ministries.

In recent years, government and medical associations have often become the loudest voices against tobacco, Landless said. Earlier this year, the United States passed a law granting unprecedented authority to the nation's Food and Drug Administration to restrict tobacco manufacture and marketing.

While broad support for tobacco control is vital, the church cannot afford to slacken its own once leading awareness efforts, Landless said.

Dewitt Williams, director of Health Ministries for the church in North America, agrees. "We're pleased to see that this study backs up what we've been saying for decades, that smoking -- even secondhand smoking -- leads to health problems," he said. "And we're always ready contribute to any means of reducing tobacco use."

Church-led efforts are intrinsic to the fight against tobacco, Landless said, and new findings such as the link between secondhand smoke and heart attacks should challenge the church to reclaim the forefront.

"Government and medical associations cannot do it alone," he said. "They need to collaborate with every agency and organization possible to tackle this huge issue, and the church can play a tremendous role in advocacy, education and awareness."

Localizing that effort often reaps the biggest benefits, Landless said. "Every church should be a community health center raising tobacco awareness."

Church efforts can particularly impact some developing countries, where smoking is often far more widespread, he said.

"We have an opportunity to be part of the groundswell of influence raising community awareness in these places," Landless said.