Herefordshire's first five-year smoking plan published
It's in a bid to help the region reach the national vision to be smokefree by 2030
Herefordshire's first five-year plan for 'tobacco control and smoking cessation' has launched today, in a bid to help the region reach the national vision to be smokefree by 2030.
This means that by 2030, 5% or fewer of our local population will be smokers.
According to national data, currently around 10% of adults in the county are smokers.
That equates to around 16,000 individuals.
The local authority say 14% of secondary school pupils in Herefordshire have tried vaping; 21% of 16-18 year olds say they vaped often and 36% have tried smoking cigarettes.
Four key areas have been chosen as the focus for the plan. These are:
- Prevention to prevent uptake in children and young people and to increase the number of smoke-free spaces
- Free, accessible, and effective stop smoking services
- Providing targeted support to people who are more likely to smoke
- Enforcement activities, such as tackling supply and demand of illegal tobacco and under-age sales of smoking and vape products
Councillor Carole Gandy, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, said: “Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable ill-health and death nationally and quitting smoking is the very best thing individuals can do for their health. It is also a very expensive habit – if you smoke 20 a day, it will cost you about £2,300 per year.
“The Herefordshire Tobacco Control Alliance has developed detailed plans aimed at reducing the impact that smoking has on our county. Going ‘Smokefree’ will result in massive health benefits for our residents and will also benefit our local economy. According to ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) smoking costs Herefordshire £123 million each year when you take into account the impact of smoking on productivity, health and social care costs and fire costs due to smoking.”
You can read the full plan here.