Man smoking

Government review calls for £125m of investment to eradicate smoking

A new report has concluded that England will miss the government target of being smokefree by 2030 by at least seven years, subsequently calling for £125m of additional investment per year.

The report, titled Making smoking obsolete, was published today and led by Dr Javed Khan OBE, found that the government’s manifesto commitment of extending life expectancy by five years by 2035 wouldn’t be met without further action and investment.

Khan also concluded that the government’s ambition to save more lives as part of the 10-Year Cancer Plan will not be fulfilled, unless further steps are put in place.

In light of his findings Khan put forward four critical ‘must do’ recommendations for the government:

  • Increased Investment – An additional £125m per year should be invested into ‘smokefree 2030’ policies, including £70m ringfenced for stop smoking services.
  • Increase the age of sale – The age of sale for tobacco products should be increased by one year, every year.
  • Promote vaping – Actively promote the use of vaping as an effective tool to quit smoking, even if it is not a panacea.
  • Improve prevention in the NHS – The NHS should use every opportunity and interaction they have with smokers to offer advice on how to quit smoking, whether that’s via GPs, hospitals, psychiatrists, midwives, pharmacists, dentists, or optometrists.

The prevalence of smoking in England reduced from 19.8% in 2011 to 13.9% in 2019, with that projected trend to continue to 2.5% by 2050.

The review also shows that 52% of 18-24-year-olds think the government isn’t doing enough to limit smoking, with 48% of the rest of the population also agreeing the government needs to do more.

These testimonies corroborate Khan’s call for the government to increase and intensify their efforts to reduce and ultimately stamp out smoking in England.

Dr Javed Khan said in the review: "A smokefree society should be a social norm – but to achieve this, we must do more to stop people taking up smoking, help those who already smoke and support those who are disproportionately impacted by smoking.

"My holistic set of recommendations for government will deliver this, whilst saving lives, saving money and addressing the health disparities associated with smoking."

Cancer remains one of the most prominent killers globally and stopping people smoking is one of the health sector’s priorities.

More information about the review can be found here.

Jan/Feb

NHE January/February 2024

Boosting NHS productivity demands a healthy dose of realism

Dive into our latest edition for January/February!

Videos...

View all videos
Online Conference

Presenting

2024 Online Conferences

In partnership with our community of health sector leaders responsible for delivering the UK's health strategy across the NHS and the wider health sector, we’ve devised a collaborative calendar of conferences and events for industry leaders to listen, learn and collaborate through engaging and immersive conversation. 

All our conferences are CPD accredited, which means you can gain points to advance your career by attending our online conferences. Also, the contents are available on demand so you can re-watch at your convenience.

National Health Executive Podcast

Ep 41. The truth about drones in the NHS

In episode 41 of the National Health Executive podcast, we were joined by Dr Angela Smith, research fellow at Bournemouth University, and Andy Oakey, research fellow at the University of Southampton, to discuss the viability of drones within the NHS transport system.

More articles...

View all