Tobacco Control

The introduction of smokefree workplaces in England has delivered exceptional public health progress: workers in enclosed public places are now protected from secondhand smoke, and an estimated 400,000 smokers quit within the first year. This could prevent 40,000 deaths over the next 10 years. Not surprisingly, research from the Department of Health has found high levels of public support and compliance. This is an outstanding achievement and shows that the conviction displayed by all of those MPs who supported this landmark change was both justified and crucial.

Smokefree workplaces, however, should not be seen as the final piece of the jigsaw. There are still challenges to be met: 22% of the adult population still smoke and prevalence rates are highest amongst low income groups and young people. Smoking-related disease kills 87,000 people a year in England, the equivalent of the entire population of Durham. Smoking remains the single biggest cause of cancer and is a factor in 90% of oral and lung cancers. Deaths from coronary heart disease are around 60% higher in smokers.

Ten years ago the Government published a tobacco control plan: Smoking Kills. Since then, the prohibition of most forms of tobacco advertising, the creation of the NHS stop smoking services and the enactment of smokefree legislation represent outstanding progress and have delivered important public health benefits over recent years.

Ten years on, however, smoking continues to kill. Smokefree Action, a group of organisations dedicated to improving public health, including the CIEH, believes that if we are to stop tobacco taking more lives we must maintain the momentum and build on the success of smokefree workplaces. In 2008 year it published a report calling for a comprehensive, well-funded Government tobacco control strategy covering four key areas:

• Reducing smoking rates and health inequalities caused by smoking;
• Protecting children and young people from smoking and secondhand smoke;
• Supporting smokers to quit;
• Helping those who cannot quit. 

Further details can be found in the following document: 

The need for a comprehensive tobacco control strategy (PDF)