The publication today of the Government’s Prevention Green Paper
[1] with a commitment to finish the job and have England
smoke-free by 2030 was welcomed by Action on Smoking and Health
(ASH).
Ending smoking by delivering a smokefree England by 2030 (defined
as prevalence below 5% across society) is achievable, popular and
will make the single most significant contribution to delivering
the Vision for Prevention goal of 5 extra healthy years of life,
while narrowing the gap between the richest and the poorest.[3]
However, ASH agrees with the Government that this will
be “extremely challenging” to achieve.[1]
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of health charity Action
on Smoking and Health (ASH) said:
“The Government is to be congratulated on setting an
ambitious target to end smoking by
2030. However,
to achieve this will require innovative new policies and funding,
to quote the Health Secretary, , ‘business as usual’ will not
suffice. [3]The public understand this, which is why three
quarters of the adult population in England support Government
interventions to limit smoking, with a growing proportion of them
thinking Government should do
more.” [2] [4]
The Green Paper is the start of a more detailed consultation
process. ASH welcomes the commitment to:
- Look at a
‘polluter pays’ approach requiring tobacco companies to pay
towards the cost of tobacco control as well as other ideas for
example raising funds under the Health Act 2006;
- Examine the
possibility of inserts in tobacco products giving quitting advice
as part of the review of tobacco legislation; and to
- Publish
further proposals at a later date.
A large survey of over 10,000 adults in England in 2019 found
that such measures are supported by the general public [2]:
- 72%
of adults in England support making tobacco manufacturers pay a
levy or licence fee to Government to help smokers quit and
prevent young people from taking up smoking, (only 7% oppose).
- 64% of
adults in England support requiring tobacco manufacturers to
include Government mandated information about quitting inside
cigarette packs (only 9% oppose).
Furthermore more than three quarters (77%) of adults in England
support activities to limit smoking or think Government should do
more.[2] Support for Government to do more to limit smoking
increased from 29% in 2009, to 39% in 2017, [4] reaching 46% in
2019.[2] The proportion of respondents who think that Government
is doing too much has fallen from 20% in 2009 [4] to 7% today.
[2]
ASH will be submitting evidence to the consultation to support a
comprehensive approach which includes not only the measures the
Government has already said are under consideration, but also
additional proposals for the Prevention Green Paper. All these
measures were submitted by by , the Chair of the APPG on
Smoking and Health, [5] supported by ASH and endorsed by 16 other
leading health organisations. [6]
ASH is also pleased to note that the Government has committed to
ensure that research is carried out on heated tobacco products to
determine whether or not they help smokers quit, which is
completely independent from the tobacco industry.
References:
[1] Prevention Green
Paper https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/819766/advancing-our-health-prevention-in-the-2020s-accessible.pdf
[2] Annual online
survey by YouGov for ASH. Total sample size in 2019 for England
was 10338 adults (and 12393 for GB). Fieldwork was undertaken
between 12th February 2019 and 10th March 2019. The surveys
are carried out online and the figures have been weighted and are
representative of all English adults (aged 18+).
[3] DHSC Vision for
Prevention ‘Prevention is better than
cure’ November 2018.
[4] Smokefree: The First Ten
Years, Tackling the smoking epidemic in England: the views of the
public. ASH 2017:
[5] All Party
Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health. Delivering the vision
of a ‘Smokefree Generation’. The APPG response to ‘Prevention is
better than cure’. February 2019. (Commissioned by the Chairman
of the APPG from ASH and the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol
Studies, which researched and wrote the report for the APPG).
[6] ASH submission to DHSC
Green Paper consultation on the vision for prevention 2019.
Endorsed by 16 other leading health organisations. February 2019
