A total of 15 interventions are proposed to help the government achieve its smoking ban by 2030. They include promoting vaporizers as an effective “exchange to quit” tool to help people quit smoking, as well as improve it. NHS and their smokers are offered support to quit smoking in any interaction they have with health services. Other interventions proposed in the report include a tobacco license for retailers to limit its nationwide availability, a re-examination of the appearance of sticks and packs of cigarettes to further reduce their coverage, and a media awareness campaign. of smokers to quit smoking. graphic The review also calls for an additional εκατο 125 million a year to be invested in smoking cessation policies, with an additional εκατο 70 million a year being limited to smoking cessation services. The report adds: “If the government can not finance it itself, it will have to pay the polluter and either introduce a contribution to the tobacco industry or create an additional corporate tax, with immediate effect.” Nearly 6 million people in England smoke and tobacco remains the single most preventable cause of illness and death. Dr Javed Khan, a former chief executive of Barnardo’s Children’s Charity, who led the review, said: “Without immediate action, England will miss out on the smoking ban for many years and possibly decades. “A non-smoking society should be a social norm – but to achieve this we need to do more to quit smoking, help those who already smoke and support those who are disproportionately affected by smoking. All of my holistic recommendations to the government will succeed, while saving lives, saving money and tackling the health inequalities associated with smoking. “My proposals are not just a plan for this government, but also successive governments. “To really achieve a smoke-free society in our great country, we must commit to making smoking obsolete, once and for all.” Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST By far the most radical policy proposed is to raise the legal smoking age by one year each year, to create a generation of smoke-free people in England. A similar policy has been announced in New Zealand, which will ban smoking for the next generation, so those aged 14 and under will never be able to buy tobacco legally. Grace Everest, a policy fellow at the Health Foundation, welcomed the review, but said it would only help create a smoke-free society if the government “chooses to respond” to its recommendations. It remains to be seen whether the key revision proposals – such as raising the selling age of tobacco and paying the polluter pay for additional investment in tobacco control – will be put into practice. “Given that smoking is a major cause of ill health and premature death in England that can be avoided and the cause of our severe inequalities in life expectancy, failure would be a significant missed opportunity to improve and upgrade the nation’s health. “Now is the time for bold action.” Sarah Woolnough, CEO of Asthma + Lung UK, said the review could be a “program for ongoing change” and should be the backbone of the government’s tobacco control plan. “If these recommendations are ignored, the government’s ambition to balance and its own smoke-free 2030 target will fail, making it more difficult for the UK to shake off the title of the worst lung health in Western Europe.” Jim McManus, president of the Association of Public Health Managers, said the proposals offer “an opportunity for a generation” not only to reach but also to surpass the smoke-free 2030 target and make “a huge difference to the nation’s health”. . The recommendations will now be taken into account by ministers and a response will be published as part of the government’s white paper on health inequalities.
