Why a smoke-freeWales is more than just a pipe dream
Tobacco is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer. Here, Andy Glyde, Cancer Research UK’s public affairs manager for Wales, explains why a smokefree Wales is a battle worth fighting for
IMAGINE living in a Wales where no one smokes, where tobacco was no longer causing needless deaths and where lung cancer was rapidly becoming a thing of the past.
This is a future that we at Cancer Research UK are striving for. And it’s no pipe dream. It’s an ambition that, with the support of the Welsh Government, partner agencies and the public, we feel could be achieved by 2034.
Scotland has committed to there being a smoke-free generation by 2034 and it’s crucial that Wales follows its lead.
We want to see the Welsh Government commit to a timeline as to how it will reduce the number of smokers to just 5% of the population.
This is important as there can be no doubt that tobacco is the cause of enormous harm.
It’s the single biggest preventable cause of cancer and is responsible for at least 14 types of cancer.
In Wales, where almost a fifth of the population smoke, tobacco causes the majority of cases of lung cancer – a disease which remains the biggest killer in the country.
In September, the Welsh Government launched its latest Tobacco Control Delivery Plan to reduce the number of smokers by 2020 and bring smoking prevalence down to 16% by 2020.
This commitment is significant and is a crucial step in the fight against tobacco addiction.
The Welsh Government’s plan was welcome in that it also included details of how to encourage more people to use stop smoking services.
However, latest statistics, released on December 20 show that health boards in Wales are continuing to miss their target to help at least 5% of the population quit the habit.
We are deeply concerned that these figures reveal some health boards, particularly in deprived areas, are failing to engage even 1% of the smoking population.
Research has also established that children exposed to smoking at home are significantly more likely to start smoking themselves.
It’s also known that two thirds of now-adult smokers took up smoking before the age of 18.
And with one in every five young people between the ages of 16 and 24 smoking in Wales, a key part of helping to protect the next generation from taking up this deadly addiction is to help the adults around them quit.
Tobacco continues to devastate millions of lives and continued effort is needed as smoking rates will not come down on their own. So what’s the answer? Evidence shows stop smoking services and anti-smoking publicity campaigns are the most effective tools we have to help people stop smoking and so, at Cancer Research UK, we think it’s vital that the Welsh Government provides the resources to support these initiatives.
In England, there has been significant and damaging cuts to stop smoking services. Thankfully, this trend is not being seen in Wales but that does not mean we can rest easy.
The Welsh Government needs to commit to funding stop smoking services and mass publicity campaigns – these are the things that we know will help smokers to quit and reduce the financial burden of treating smoking-related diseases on our health service.
If this does not happen, there’s the risk the decline in smoking could stall, or worse, begin to rise again.
Additionally, e-cigarettes may have the potential to help smokers to quit and it is important that stop smoking services consider these as part of the package.
The upcoming introduction of plain standardised packing, as well as display bans in retail outlets, will also continue to ensure use of this fundamentally lethal product is no longer normal.
The recently published Tobacco Control Plan is far from the end of the story. Work will start soon on a new future strategy and we hope this will contain clearer targets to get to a point where smoking in Wales is a thing of the past.
Ultimately, ambitious targets are needed.
It’ll take courage and determination. But with the prospect of saving thousands upon thousands of lives, the battle for a smoke-free Wales must be worth fighting for.