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19/03/2004
Campaign lauded for fall in number of smokers
The latest figures revealing a continuing fall in the number of English smokers have been welcomed as evidence that the message in government anti-smoking campaigns is getting across.
The General Household Survey statistics showed that smoking among those aged 16 and over has dropped from 28% when 'Smoking Kills', the Government's White Paper was published in 1998, to 26% in 2002.
This provides evidence that the Government is on track to meet the target of 24% in 2010, having met the 2005 milestone early. Smoking prevalence among manual groups decreased from 33% in 1998 to 31% in 2002.
Welcoming the new figures, Melanie Johnson, Minister for Public Health, said: "I am delighted by these results. These figures show that the Government's programme to reduce the numbers of adults who smoke is working. They also show that smoking rates are falling in manual groups, which is crucial in tackling health inequalities.
"We have provided Stop Smoking Services on the NHS which give support to smokers wanting to quit as well as free stop smoking therapies, to help them give up smoking for good. The success of these services is one of the reasons why we are on track to reduce the number of smokers even further by 2010.
"This drop is also being helped by people giving up as a result of the media campaigns that the Department of Health has run since 1998. These have helped to link in people's minds the devastating effects that smoking has on their health and has provided added motivation that they need to quit smoking."
Today's figures are out at the same time as new regulations are laid before Parliament under the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 to restrict the advertising of cigarettes and tobacco where they are sold.
These Point of Sale Regulations are an important step in taking forward the 2002 tobacco advertising ban and will come in to force at the end of the year.
The regulations will strictly limit the amount of advertising allowed where cigarettes are sold in shops. The large and brightly coloured adverts on shelving where cigarettes are placed are often found close to sweets and magazines in newsagents which appeal to children. These new measures will further help to protect young people from the dangers of smoking and discourage the purchase of tobacco.
(SP)
The General Household Survey statistics showed that smoking among those aged 16 and over has dropped from 28% when 'Smoking Kills', the Government's White Paper was published in 1998, to 26% in 2002.
This provides evidence that the Government is on track to meet the target of 24% in 2010, having met the 2005 milestone early. Smoking prevalence among manual groups decreased from 33% in 1998 to 31% in 2002.
Welcoming the new figures, Melanie Johnson, Minister for Public Health, said: "I am delighted by these results. These figures show that the Government's programme to reduce the numbers of adults who smoke is working. They also show that smoking rates are falling in manual groups, which is crucial in tackling health inequalities.
"We have provided Stop Smoking Services on the NHS which give support to smokers wanting to quit as well as free stop smoking therapies, to help them give up smoking for good. The success of these services is one of the reasons why we are on track to reduce the number of smokers even further by 2010.
"This drop is also being helped by people giving up as a result of the media campaigns that the Department of Health has run since 1998. These have helped to link in people's minds the devastating effects that smoking has on their health and has provided added motivation that they need to quit smoking."
Today's figures are out at the same time as new regulations are laid before Parliament under the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 to restrict the advertising of cigarettes and tobacco where they are sold.
These Point of Sale Regulations are an important step in taking forward the 2002 tobacco advertising ban and will come in to force at the end of the year.
The regulations will strictly limit the amount of advertising allowed where cigarettes are sold in shops. The large and brightly coloured adverts on shelving where cigarettes are placed are often found close to sweets and magazines in newsagents which appeal to children. These new measures will further help to protect young people from the dangers of smoking and discourage the purchase of tobacco.
(SP)
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An ambitious new strategy will halve the number of smokers, from 21 to 10% of the population by 2020, Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham announced today. The number of people smoking has fallen by a quarter in the past decade – just last year 337,000 people stopped smoking thanks to free support from the NHS.
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