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The ONS has published UK adult smoking prevalence figures for 2021
Key points:
The current adult smoking prevalence figure for 2021 in England was 13.0%. This is a reduction from 13.8% in 2020 and continues the general downward trend observed since 2011 (19.8%). In 2021, 14.9% of men smoked compared with 11.2% of women in England; this trend has been consistent since 2011.
The decrease in the proportion of current smokers may be partly attributed to the increase in vaping and e-cigarette use. 7.7% of Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) respondents, aged 16 years and over, in 2021 said they currently used an e-cigarette daily or occasionally, based on data collected in August and September 2021, which equates to around 4 million adults in the population; this is an increase on the estimate from 2020, where 6.4% of people reported daily or occasional e-cigarette use.
Of the constituent countries, the highest proportion of current smokers in 2021 was in Scotland (14.8%) and the lowest was in England (13.0%); Wales and Northern Ireland reported 14.1% and 13.8% current smokers, respectively.
Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, changes were made to the APS data collection in 2020 and 2021. In March 2020 the survey switch from a mix of face to face interview and telephone interviews to telephone only. People are less likely to report they smoke when asked over the telephone. As a result the data published last year covering 2020 could not be compared with previous years. This year ONS have adjusted their estimates to account for lower smoking status being report over the telephone. As such 2020 and 2021 data can now be compared with previous time series.
Source: ONS, 6 December 2022
See also: Local tobacco profiles have also been updated
ASH is holding a webinar with ONS, OHID and NHS Digital on 15th December to explore new figures and changes to the methodology. To sign up click here
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Opinion: Do you really want to live to be 100?
Writing for the Financial Times, reporter and editor Sarah O’Connor, discusses a recent UK poll which found that only 35% of people would want to reach the age of 100. In this same poll, fewer than a fifth of respondents thought they would have a good quality of life if they were to reach 100.
O’Connor writes that ‘healthy life expectancy’ (a measure of the number of years someone will live in good health) would make for a better measure of what people really want. In the UK, healthy life expectancy in the years before the pandemic had flatlined for men at 62.9 years and had decreased slightly for women to 63.3 years.
Additionally, there is a wide gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas in England. A woman born in the poorest areas of England has a healthy life expectancy of 51.4 years, slightly less than 20 years less than a woman born in more affluent areas at 71.2 years.
O’Connor notes that there are a range of reasons for this including increasing rates of obesity, alcohol misuse and the impact of a decade of public health cuts. The effects of these health issues are making themselves felt on the labour market, with a growing number of people too ill to work.
O’Connor points to ambitious government goals of increasing healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035. This is not unheard of and occurred in the period between 2000 to 2010, but this was at a time of consistent economic growth and higher social spending. She concludes by questioning whether the next decade is likely to see the same progress as the 2000s.
Source: Financial Times, 6 December 2022
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New South Bristol road to be named after first female lord mayor after tobacco row
A new road on the site of a former South Bristol tobacco factory will be named after the city’s first female lord mayor after Marvin Rees (the current mayor) vetoed the idea of honouring a cigarette brand.
The housing development was to be called Navy Cut Road after a product manufactured at the former Imperial Group tobacco factory which was located at the same site. Action on Smoking and Health labelled this as “morally unacceptable” and resulted in the council seeking new names.
The 70-home housing development at Imperial Park, Bishopsworth, will have Florence Mills Brown – who held the role in 1963/64 – in its title.
Source: The Bristol Post, 6 December 2022
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Written Questions
Asked by Andrew Gwynne, Labour, Denton and Reddish
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November to Question 87789, how the Government will monitor its progress against the Smokefree 2030 target without a formal assessment.
Answered by Neil O'Brien, Minister for Primary care and Public Health
We monitor progress through reviewing adult smoking prevalence estimates, based on data from the Annual Population Survey. Smoking prevalence estimates for 2021 are due to be published on 6 December 2022 by the Office for National Statistics in ‘Adult smoking habits in the UK'.
Source: Hansard, 5 December 2022
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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.
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