North East sees biggest fall in smoking – five years since smokefree law
The five years since England went Smokefree has seen the North East achieve the biggest drop in smoking in England and some of the highest support nationally to make smoking history for children, according to FRESH.
This weekend (July 1) sees the fifth anniversary of Smokefree law, which followed the Health Act of 2006 and stated that smoking was prohibited by law in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places.
This aim of Smokefree law was to protect the public and employees from exposure to second hand smoke in public places, a major health hazard which can lead to lung cancer and heart disease in adults, along with chest infections, ear infections, asthma and cot death in children.
Since July 1, 2007, the North East has seen:
• Over 97 per cent compliance with Smokefree legislation in the North East since its introduction (www.smokefreeengland.co.uk) and high public support nationally, with 80 per cent in favour of Smokefree law**
• smoking prevalence in the North East dropping from 29 per cent to 21 per cent – double the fall nationally where prevalence went from 24 to 20 per cent*
• The number of North East parents who don’t allow smoking in the home rose from 43 per cent to 52 per cent in 2011
• 87 per cent of North East adults agree that the region needs to make more effort to prevent children from starting to smoke***
• In the last two years it is estimated that 24,308 additional smokers successfully quitting smoking, resulting in £4.38m being saved in regional Primary Care Costs
Ailsa Rutter, director of FRESH, said: “Support for Smokefree law has been incredibly high and it is a measure that worked. It was always about reducing exposure to second hand smoke and continuing to reduce the impact of our biggest killer, but it also encouraged some smokers to quit.
“The North East has made fantastic progress over the last five years and is continuing to do so. We have gone from the region with the worst smoking rates to the region known nationally for tackling the harm tobacco causes. There has been a big change in attitudes towards smoking over the past few years and we will continue to help support smokers who want to quit and raise awareness of the harm tobacco causes.
“We must not forget, however, that there is still a great deal of work to be done in tackling tobacco. Smoking is still the biggest cause of premature death and disease in the North East and is the biggest contributor to health inequalities, with nearly one in five deaths among the over 35s as a result of smoking.
"We have 11 deaths every day in the region from smoking, which causes almost 90 per cent of lung cancer deaths, 80 per cent of bronchitis and emphysema related deaths and 17 per cent of heart disease deaths. And for every death caused by smoking, another 20 smokers are suffering from smoking related disease – which costs the North East NHS £210million every year.
“The introduction of Smokefree law in 2007 was a pivotal moment in time for the whole of the country and we are now facing similar moments with next steps in UK legislation, including the current Government consultation on proposed measures for plain, standardised packaging of tobacco products which is due to end on July 10.”
Peter Wright, environmental health and trading standards manager for Gateshead Council, said: “The purpose of the Smokefree law was to protect staff from exposure to second hand smoke, and it has been tremendously successful in that respect.
“I think Environmental Health staff in the region did a terrific job in helping businesses to prepare for the introduction of the law in advance, and in resolving any difficulties that arose afterwards.
“I also think that a great deal of credit should go to our businesses and their staff and customers. They have accepted and embraced the law almost universally, and contributed greatly to the success of this important health measure.”
Louise Morris, from Newcastle, who quit smoking in 2007 said: “The Smokefree law has made a massive difference in that going out to pubs and restaurants as a family is a much nicer and safer experience.
“Before 2007 I would always worry about going into a family pub because I knew my daughter would be at risk of breathing in other people’s smoke. Now we don’t have to worry about ourselves or children breathing in second hand smoke.”
FRESH is now working on next steps in the fight against tobacco in partnership with ASH, the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) with the Plain Packs Protect campaign, in support of plain, standardised packaging of tobacco products to make them less attractive to young people – a new law which has already been passed in Australia and which the UK Government is currently consulting on.
Ailsa Rutter continued: “Tens of thousands of people nationally have now signed up in support of plain, standardised packaging of tobacco products. Packaging is a crucial part of tobacco industry marketing in recruiting new smokers, the vast majority of whom are children, and, where we were years ago with Smokefree legislation, we are now at with plain, standardised packaging of tobacco products. Fantastic achievements have been made within the region, but there is more to be done and these new measures are a necessary part of helping to make smoking history for future generations.”