09/03/2010
Comprehensive tobacco plan a victory for public
health
The
Coalition Government has announced details of its new Tobacco
Control Plan and we're pleased to see the plan includes a
range of measures which will help protect people from the dangers
of smoking.
The plan, annouced on No Smoking
Day, includes implementing important legislation
prohibiting the display of tobacco in large shops
in England from April next year and all other shops from April
2015.
The Coalition Government has also announced it
will consult on plans to introduce plain
packaging for cigarettes across the UK by the end of the year.
Under the proposal, cigarette packaging would be plain-coloured and
show simply the product name, brand and health
warnings.
We’re pleased to see the Government will
defend the ban on cigarette vending machines due
in October because we’ve been fighting hard
to make sure this ban goes ahead.
Betty McBride, our
Director of Policy and Communications, said:
Today is a victory for health campaigners and a show of strength
“The Coalition
Government has been under enormous pressure from a
tobacco
industry hell-bent on derailing important legislation
banning tobacco displays in shops. Today is a victory for health
campaigners and show of strength from Health Secretary Andrew
Lansley.
“Though we’re slightly disappointed the
display ban is being delayed, it will help prevent the industry
from marketing their products to children and will
go a long way to helping young people avoid a lifetime of addiction
and health problems. The introduction of plain packaging would
complement the ban and signal the end of slick, colourful designs
used as ‘silent salesmen’.
“Before today’s announcement, tobacco bosses
have been keeping busy scaremongering retailers
with claims that the display ban will see them facing an
insurmountable financial burden. The evidence from the ban in
Ireland disproves those claims and the changes the Government has
made to the legislation, including giving shopkeepers more
time to comply, should provide further reassurance.”
Smoking
increases your risk of
heart disease and despite one in five premature deaths
from
heart and circulatory disease being
linked to smoking, 21 per cent of adults in Great Britain still
smoke cigarettes. Two thirds took up the habit before they were 18
years old.
We've been campaigning for a
tobacco display ban to prevent tobacco companies from
marketing their products to children. The charity has also been
calling for plain packaging.
The proposals in the Tobacco Control Plan will
build on the success of the smokefree legislation
brought in four years ago – an academic review of the legislation
was published alongside the plan and shows this has had beneficial
effects on health in England.