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Health and wellbeing

Stubbing out smoking: making England smoke free by 2030

Published on

Release on behalf of the Association of Directors Public Health in the West Midlands (ADPH WM)

No smoking signage placed on a table.
Stubbing out smoking

On 9 June, Dr Javed Khan OBE published his independent review to support the government’s ambition for England to be Smokefree by 2030- reducing smoking rates to 5% or less. The report contains 15 recommendations, including four which are stated as ‘critical’ for the Government to action. These critical recommendations are;

  1. Urgently invest £125 million per year in a comprehensive Smokefree 2030 programme. Options to fund this include a ‘polluter pays’ levy.
  2. Raise the age of sale of tobacco by one year every year.
  3. Offer vaping as a substitute for smoking, alongside accurate information on the benefits of switching, including to healthcare professionals.
  4. For the NHS to prioritise further action to stop people from smoking, by providing support and treatment across all of its services, including primary care.

“ Although there has been significant progress in reducing smoking across the West Midlands, smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable death. “

Stephen Gunther
Chair of ADPH WM

He quoted figures which show in the last 3 years since the government pledged to make England smokefree, in the West Midlands:

  • Around 35,500 people have died from smoking related illness.
  • 37,825 children have started smoking.
  • Around £4.85bn has been spent on tobacco.

“ ADPH WM are strongly behind Khan’s recommendations as they highlight the breadth of work needed to tackle the serious impact smoking has on our region’s health. We will work with the government in considering all the recommendations in the report and for the opportunities in the upcoming White Paper on Health Disparities and Tobacco Control Plan later this year. “

Stephen Gunther
Chair of ADPH WM

He further went on to lay out the Directors’ response to each of the critical recommendations;

  1. The Directors fully endorse the need for an additional £125 million per year in a comprehensive Smokefree 2030 programme including the potential for a ‘polluter pays’ levy. This funding should support a range of activities at local level including;
  • additional trading standards staff to tackle illicit tobacco trade
  • funding for local stop smoking services provided by the NHS across all its services and for those provided by local councils in our communities.
  • Investment should be targeted into areas with highest smoking prevalence and levels of health inequalities.

We must learn lessons from the pandemic where we saw some neighbourhoods, professions and groups more affected than others. The harm caused from smoking is unequal too, where it is concentrated in routine and manual workers; in our poorest neighbourhoods and those with poor mental health. We will push for our fair share of any additional investment, based on the region’s needs.

  1. The Directors strongly embrace the review’s recommendation to prevent young people from starting to smoke by increasing the age of sale of tobacco from 18 by one year, every year. Most smokers start as children or teenagers and two thirds of those trying just one cigarette go on to become addicted smokers. This risks a lifetime of addiction and premature death, disease and disability. We know that raising the age of sale works;
    • youth uptake fell by 30% in 18-20-year olds in US states which raised the age of sale to 21.
    • New Zealand is introducing a lifelong ban on anyone aged 14 and under in 2023 from buying tobacco products as it aims to half the number of smokers within 10 years. We advocate to be a leading part on developing the evidence-base on preventing youth smoking.

We must continue to look to the evidence on how we priorities prevention in young people who we know will still be at risk of starting to smoke.

  1. The Directors warmly support the review’s recommendation to promote vaping as an effective quit tool, alongside accurate information on the benefits of switching, including to healthcare professionals. We recognise this is a helpful tool for smokers trying to quit but want to see effective & stringent regulation of vaping to keep them out of the hands of children.
  2. The Directors fully endorse the recommendation for the NHS to take all necessary measures to commit resources to tackle smoking with an “invest to save” approach

The Khan Review can be accessed at gov.uk The Khan review: making smoking obsolete 

Individual Local Authority data on tobacco control is available as follows: Local Tobacco Control Profiles - OHID (phe.org.uk)

Further information about the ADPH can on the Association of Directors of Public Health website.

-ENDS-

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