Cance rcharity calls onExecutivetoset ne w smoking target
A LEADING cancer charity has called for action to cut the number of smokers in Northern Ireland by 180,000 by 2035.
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) said the ambitious target could be achieved if the Government invested in a bold programme to help smokers quit.
There are currently an estimated 260,000 smokers in Northern Ireland.
CRUK called on the Executive to set a target to reduce the adult smoking rate to a maximum of 5% within the next 15 years.
It said that to achieve this, politicians would have to accelerate the projected decline in smoking rates by about 50%.
According to the most recent Department of Health figures, 18% of the Northern Ireland population smokes.
This is projected to drop to 9% by 2035.
“Smoking causes around 1,300 cases of cancer every year in Northern Ireland,” said Margaret Carr, the charity’s public affairs manager.
“It remains a tragedy that smoking continues to devastate so many families.”
The charity said a number of measures must be put in place by the Executive in order to meet the new target.
These include a programme to ensure all smokers who visit hospital are routinely offered support to quit.
It also called for greater awareness, promotion and access to free stop smoking services.
The charity made the call ahead of a drive to encourage smokers to make a quit attempt in March, which is No Smoking Month.
Ms Carr continued: “Smoking is enormously addictive and difficult to quit. It’s also hugely harmful to health.
“This new forecast gives the Executive good reason to be bold and set a target to be smoke-free by 2035. Targets have already been set in Scotland and England. We know that quitting reduces the risk of cancer, so the reasons to strive for a tobacco-free society in Northern Ireland are unequivocal.
“We know that people who engage with smoking cessation services are more likely to be successful at quitting smoking.
“Worryingly, the proportion of smokers accessing smoking cessation services has declined over the last five years.
“It’s vital that the Northern Ireland Executive picks up the pace, urgently draws up an action plan and invests in ways to prevent people from taking up smoking and to support people to quit.”
Someone who has recently managed to quit is former 20-a-day smoker Steven Lampard (33), who is determined to stay healthy for his three-yearold daughter, Aria.
Steven started smoking when he was 16 years old but decided to stop six years ago when he met his wife, Adele.
However, he started again one year later.
The chef from Co Antrim said: “I found the pressure of my job and the lifestyle around it did not help.
“The only opportunity you get for a break in a busy kitchen tends to be a quick smoking break.”
The arrival of baby Aria gave Steven the incentive to try again, but he still found it hard to sustain.
He continued: “Adele began working for CRUK last year and listening to her talk about her work made me more aware of the dangers of smoking and the devastation a cancer diagnosis can cause.
“Watching our daughter grow up and the cancer diagnosis of a close relative has prompted me to try again.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said a midterm review of its tobacco control strategy showed smoking rates had dropped from 24% to 18%.