18.07.17
RSPH: Ambitions to slash smoking rates not achievable without extra funding
Health organisations have welcomed a new government plan to reduce the societal harm of smoking, but added that the ambitions must also be backed by extra funding.
A full year-and-a-half after the previous strategy expired, the government has set out new objectives to reduce smoking among adults from 15.5% to 12% or less by 2022.
It also aims to reduce the prevalence of smoking in pregnancy from 10.5% to 6% or less, as well as getting the proportion of young smokers aged 15 or less down from 8% to 3% or less.
The government added that it wants to reduce the inequality gap in smoking prevalence between those in routine and manual occupations and the general population.
However, the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) stated that these impressive aims cannot be achieved against the backdrop of continuing cuts to public health budgets.
“We’re delighted that the new public health minister, Steve Brine, has taken just weeks to bring forward this vision of a smoke-free generation, with its commitments to a series of bold targets,” said Shirley Cramer CBE, chief executive of the RSPH.
“However, this will be an uphill battle if public health budgets continue to get slashed at every turn,” she added. “Today, smoking is responsible for half the difference in life expectancy between the poorest and richest in our society, something we can ill afford to ignore if we are to take health inequalities seriously.”
Cramer added that despite England boasting some of the fastest declining smoking rates in the world, an astonishing 200 people still died every day as a result of smoking.
“This five-year plan is an important step towards bringing this number down, but we must ensure that its targets become reality and that the government is held to account every step of the way,” she concluded.
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