Smokers, you have just eight years left to light up here

SMOKERS have only eight years left to light up in Ireland before we become a tobacco-free country, Health Minister Simon Harris has told them.

He said that 6,000 lives are lost because of tobacco addiction, which are preventable deaths, and added: ‘Our tobacco policy, Tobacco Free Ireland, sets a target for Ireland to be tobacco-free by 2025.’

He accepted: ‘In practice, this means a smoking prevalence rate of less than 5%.’ And he added: ‘This is an ambitious target.’

The minister maintains that there are now more people who have quit smoking than there are smokers. The HSE estimates that 23% of the population smoke, and about 19% smoke every day.

However, since the Quit campaign began in 2011, the number of smokers has reduced by over 125,000.

It has also prompted hundreds of thousands of quit attempts and is giving free personal support to tens of thousands of quitters through HSE services, providing support by phone, email and text.

Minster Harris said: ‘There are more people in Ireland now who have quit smoking than actually smoke but we want to obviously grow that number even greater.

‘We know half of all smokers in Ireland report making a quit attempt. Therefore, smoking cessation is key to achieving a tobacco-free Ireland.

‘I have no doubt the Quit campaign played a big part in the reduction we have seen. But Ireland’s ambition has made us international leaders in this area and, with 6,000 lives at stake each year, ambition is the only option.’