BHF comment
Smokefree England an ‘achievable’ ambition, says BHF following new report
A new APPG on Smoking and Health report that offers recommendations on how to reach a Smokefree England by 2030 has outlined “achievable” goals in reaching this milestone.
Quitting smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart, with over 20,000 UK heart and circulatory disease deaths being attributable to smoking each year.
According to the APPG, smoking not only kills people prematurely, but it can also drive them into poverty and increases the number of years people live in ill health.
Latest Office for National Statistics data from 2019 shows that in the UK around one in four (23.4 per cent) people in routine and manual occupations smoked, around 2.5 times higher than people in managerial and professional occupations (9.3 per cent).
Smoking prevalence in Blackpool, an area of high deprivation, was 23.4 per cent, compared to 8 per cent in Richmond on Thames, which is in the least deprived decile.
The cross-party group of MPs and Peers say that now is the time for Government to commit to the actions needed to secure its vision of a Smokefree England 2030 (meaning a smoking rate of 5% or less).
As the UK no longer follows EU regulations, the report is urging the Government to seize the opportunity provided by Brexit to take its place on the world stage as a global leader in tobacco control.
Going smoke free
The recommendations in the report include:
- Establishing a Smokefree 2030 Fund, which would require tobacco manufacturers to pay a “polluter pays” levy. Funds raised would be used for tobacco regulation including behaviour change campaigns, retailer compliance work and policy development, implementation, and evaluation
- Targeted investment to provide additional support to help smokers quit in regions and communities where smoking does most damage – this includes those in routine and manual jobs and the unemployed; those living in social housing; those with a mental health condition; and pregnant smokers. This will be key to the Government’s levelling up ambitions and vital to reducing the stubborn inequalities that exist in smoking rates.
- Tougher tobacco regulations to protect children and young people from becoming smokers and help smokers quit, such as putting health warnings on cigarettes and raising the age of sale to 21.
The report highlights that more 76 per cent of the public support the Government’s Smokefree 2030 ambition.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, said: “Recent progress in reducing smoking rates must not lead to complacency in stopping the devastation it causes millions of families across the country.
"Smoking remains a leading cause of death from heart and circulatory diseases in the UK and it’s an addiction that disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.
“As outlined in the APPG’s report, turning England into a smokefree country by 2030 is achievable and we’ve made great strides. But to go further will require bold action such as putting health warnings on individual cigarettes, ensuring big tobacco takes responsibility for the harm its products cause, and providing adequate funding for stop smoking services that save lives.”