Public Health England has just launched the latest edition of Health Matters
which focuses on the introduction of standard packs for tobacco products in
the United Kingdom. This year we became the second country in the world after
Australia to introduce standardised packaging of tobacco products. This is a
powerful measure designed to reduce smoking uptake among young people and
prevent the next generation of smokers. Tobacco companies now have fewer and fewer
ways to promote their brands to consumers. Cigarette packs are the last
advertising medium for tobacco companies to sell the personality of their brand.
There's very strong evidence that exposure to tobacco advertising and
promotion increases the likelihood of children and young people taking up
smoking. Teenagers being more heavily swayed by brands than adults. Most smokers
in fact start as teenagers with nearly two-thirds starting before the age of 18.
The new standard packs are designed to be unappealing. They're a drab colour with
prominent health warnings and unbranded other than the name in plain font.
Following UK legislation they're now beginning to appear on the shelves and
by May 2017, all cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco will appear in standard
packs. An independent review into standardised packaging commissioned by
the UK government concluded that it is likely that this form of packaging will
help to reduce the rate of children taking up smoking. Such a reduction would
make a significant contribution towards reducing the burden of smoking on the NHS.
Action on Smoking and Health estimates that smoking costs the NHS in
England approximately £2bn per year for treating diseases caused by smoking.
Now since introducing standard packs in December 2012, Australia has
seen fewer young people taking up smoking. Research there has also shown
that current smokers were more likely to think about and to prioritise quitting.
Calls to the National Smoking Cessation quitline from New
South Wales increased by 78% following the introduction of standard packs and
there have been significant drops in smoking prevalence and the numbers of
cigarettes sold per head of population. In England health professionals and
local authorities need to be ready to capitalise on this increased motivation
to quit among smokers. There are currently over 7 million adult smokers
in England, and two out of three say they want to quit. That proportion is set to
increase over the coming months and local health care systems need to be
ready to make the most of this opportunity to boost quitting rates in
their populations. Health professionals have a key role to play and encouraging
smokers to quit because prompts from health professionals are the second most
common reason for a quit attempt. Local stop smoking services offer the best
chance of success. A combination of behavioural and pharmacological support
is up to four times more effective than no help or over-the-counter nicotine
replacement therapy alone. Disadvantaged smokers including people from lower
socioeconomic backgrounds and people with mental health conditions are
equally likely to try to quit but less likely to succeed. Support for quitting
should therefore be tailored to different groups and this edition of
Health Matters offers advice to pharmacists, primary care, secondary care
and local authorities on how to provide the right support to
those who need it most.
Please have a look at Public Health England's Health Matters online resource.
It includes case studies, blogs, video discussions, downloadable infographics
and slides that you can use in presentations and in discussions with
your colleagues.
Thank you for watching.