|
|
|
|
Steep fall in young smokers in past decade
Fewer than one out of every 10 (9.8%) young adults in the UK smoke cigarettes - a steep drop from a quarter (25.7) of 18-24-year-olds 12 years ago, according to official estimates.
Smoking rates among UK adults have been falling over the past decade, with nearly 12%, or six million people, smoking in 2023, the Office for National Statistics says.
Separate ONS figures show e-cigarette or vape use continues to rise, with the highest rate, nearly 16%, among 16-24 year-olds.
E-cigarettes can help people quit smoking, and are much less harmful than inhaling tobacco smoke from cigarettes, but non-smokers are advised not to start vaping.
In 2023, according to ONS figures, the percentage of adults who smoked was:
• 11.6% in England
• 12.6% in Wales
• 13.5% in Scotland
• 13.3% in Northern Ireland
That's down from 20% of UK adults smoking in 2011.
The previous Conservative government planned to prevent those born in or after 2009 ever buying cigarettes legally.
The new Labour government has said it will broadly continue with the same plans, while also looking at banning smoking outdoors, in pub gardens for example. This is all part of a commitment to make England "smoke free" (smoking rates lower than 5%) by 2030.
A toughening of rules around the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes is also planned, alongside a ban on disposable vapes, targeting teenagers and young people.
There is little evidence on the long-term health effects of vaping, particularly for those who have never smoked.
The ONS estimates 16-24-year-olds were more likely to use an e-cigarette than any other age group (15.8%) in Great Britain, in 2023.
But the use of vapes had risen most, since 2022, among 25-34-year-olds.
About 5.1 million people in the country used a vape or e-cigarette in 2023 - 5.9% of people aged 16 and over vaped every day, up slightly from the previous year, while another 3.9% did so occasionally.
Source: BBC News, 1 October 2024
See also: ONS: Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2023
|
|
Mapped: The UK's smoking strongholds where nearly a quarter of adults still smoke
Only one in 10 Brits now smoke, the lowest proportion of the population ever recorded. Rates in some parts of the country were even lower with just one in 20 adults smoking though in some holdouts rates rose to one in five.
The UK's overall smoking rate is now almost half what it was in 2011, when one in five Brits (20.2 per cent) was a smoker.
ONS data show the number of daily or occasional vapers has risen to 5.1million in 2023, almost 10 per cent of the population, and nearly reaching the number of Brits still smoking.
Reacting to the data, Professor Nick Hopkinson, respiratory physician and chairman of public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: 'Vaping has helped millions of adults quit smoking and is much less harmful than smoking.
“However, it is not risk-free and high levels of use among young people and growing use among never smokers is a concern.”
Professor Hopkinson added: “The Government must get its Tobacco and Vapes Bill into law as soon as possible, to provide a tough regulatory framework to control the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes.
We need to reinforce the role of vaping as a tool to stop smoking, not a lifestyle accessory.”
There were also stark differences between different parts of the UK.
Fenland in Cambridgeshire recorded the highest smoking rate in Britain, with 22.1 per cent — equivalent to nearly one in four adults — a smoker, and almost double the national rate.
This was followed by Blackpool (21.3 per cent) and North Lanarkshire in Scotland (20.8 per cent).
In contrast, Woking in northwest Surrey had the lowest rate of the country with just 5.3 per cent, or about one in 20 adults, being a smoker and more than half the national average.
ASH chief executive Hazel Cheeseman said: "Today's figures are further proof that the country is ready to be smoke-free.
There is cross-party support for ending the sale of tobacco and creating a generation free from the harms from smoking and Government should bring forward the Bill as soon as possible.
Despite the progress there is still much to be done. Our poorest communities continue to pay the price for tobacco company profits, as do our public services and economy.
Alongside creating a smoke-free generation, the Government must maintain the commitment of the last government to invest in support to help the six million people currently smoking to quit.”
Source: Daily Mail, 1 October 2024
See also: ONS: Adult smoking habits in the UK: 2023
|
|
Cancer survivor hails falling number of smokers
A cancer survivor has said a huge fall in the number of people smoking in her home region is "incredible news".
Only 11% of adults living in north-east England smoked in 2023, according to the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The figure is the second lowest in the country and a huge decrease compared with 2004, when 29% of adults in the region smoked - the highest in England.
Sue Mountain, from South Tyneside, was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer at 48 but said the news meant people would not have to suffer from "the misery of cancer from smoking".
"For people who smoke, it gives hope," said Ms Mountain, who first started smoking when she was 11.
"We now know so much about the terrible impact smoking has on health. This is the harsh reality of an addiction. People are getting diseases like cancer and COPD far too young. I don't want one person going through what I did."
Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest percentage of smokers at 12.7%, while the South East had the lowest at 10.6%. But according to anti-smoking charity Fresh, the habit is still the North East's biggest cause of cancer and preventable deaths.
The charity estimates it costs the region £2.35bn every year.
Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh, said the reduction in smoking was something the charity could not have imagined 20 years ago, but said there was still more work to be done.
"Smoking is still our number one killer and rates are much higher in key groups, including people with mental illness and those living in poorer communities," she said.
"Rates of lung cancer are still rising among women. We still need concerted action now at local, regional and national levels to reduce adult smoking to 5% by 2030."
Source: BBC News, 2 October 2024
|
|
Labour received gifts worth £1m from betting firms
Sir Keir Starmer and three other cabinet ministers have received tens of thousands of pounds in corporate hospitality and donations from betting companies and senior figures in the sector, parliamentary records show.
At the same time, the Labour Party has received more than £1 million in donations from casino bosses who made their fortunes in the sector in the past two years.
The analysis comes after Starmer and senior members of his government were hit by a significant backlash for accepting freebies, including wardrobe upgrades, luxury spectacles and tickets to music concerts and football matches.
Analysis of the House of Commons register of interests shows Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, accepted three tickets to a musical last year from the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), alongside £20,000 in donations from wealthy gambling bosses to fund her private office, before the general election.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, received a free dinner ticket worth £700 from Allwyn, the National Lottery operator owned by the Czech billionaire Karel Komarek.
The gifts have raised concerns that ministerial decision-making could be compromised.
Starmer previously received a £25,000 donation from Peter Coates, the head of the dynasty behind the Stoke-based online gambling company Bet365, in support of his leadership campaign in 2020.
In total, the Labour Party has accepted £1.08 million from those who made their money in the gambling sector. Most of this came from the little-known casino entrepreneur Derek Webb, who donated £750,000 this year and £300,000 in 2023.
Labour came under pressure at its conference to tighten regulation of the sector, with the centrist think tank the Social Market Foundation calling for gambling duty to be doubled. It is also under pressure to push on with reform that was started under the Conservative administration, including a new law to introduce a “polluter pays” levy.
The party has had a cosy relationship with bookmaking giants ever since Tony Blair’s government liberalised Britain’s gambling laws, allowing it to become the £14 billion industry it is today.
Source: The Telegraph, 1 October 2024
|
|
Targeted support could reduce infant mortality gap across England, study finds
Four key factors have been identified that together account for more than one-third of the inequalities in infant deaths between the most and least deprived areas of England.
Researchers say targeted interventions to address these factors – teenage pregnancy, maternal depression, preterm birth and smoking during pregnancy – could go a significant way to reduce inequalities, although higher-level structural changes to address socioeconomic inequality will also be necessary.
The UK currently ranks 10th out of 38 OECD countries for infant mortality (deaths in children under the age of one), with four deaths recorded per 1,000 live births.
Children born to mothers who are poor, black or young are known to be at increased risk, but where children are born also matters: according to ONS data for 2022, the mortality rate for infants in the most deprived 10% of England was almost three times higher than for infants living in the least deprived 10%.
“The inequality in infant mortality is at an alarming level,” said Dr Frederick Ho at the University of Glasgow’s School of Health, who led the study. “We also know that infant mortality is an indicator of more general effectiveness in the healthcare system. We wanted to understand the reasons for this inequality, as this could have policy implications for whether we could use the healthcare system to reduce or to eliminate it.”
While smoking and maternal depression may affect the biological development of infants, with downstream implications for their health, the association with teenage pregnancy may relate more to circumstances such as reduced access to pre- and postnatal care, or access to fewer financial resources, Ho said.
His data suggests that interventions designed to target these factors – such as screening for depression in early pregnancy, improving GP outreach services to teenage mums, or ongoing efforts to phase out smoking – could help to reduce inequality.
Alex Kennedy, policy and engagement manager at the Health Foundation, a UK health charity and thinktank, said: “For the new government to meet its goal of halving the difference in healthy life expectancy between regions, there must be an explicit focus on children’s health and reducing infant mortality. A key part of this is focusing on reducing deprivation and ensuring communities have access to the building blocks of health – including education, employment and decent housing.”
Source: The Guardian, 2 October 2024
See also: Maternal and pregnancy factors contributing to the association between area deprivation and infant mortality in England: a retrospective cohort study
|
|
Have you been forwarded this email? Subscribe to ASH Daily News here.
For more information email [email protected] or visit www.ash.org.uk
@ASHorguk
ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
