To reduce smoking prevalence to 17% by 2010 in UK

Published on February 6, 2008 2:26 PM

The Government declared that smoking rates among British adults decreased by 2% between 2005 and 2006, from 24% to 22%. Even though the total number of cigarettes smoked per person has not changed significantly: men smoked an average 15 cigarettes a day and women 13 a day.

In helping people stop smoking come the mass media campaigns, provision of the stop smoking services and tobacco advertising bans. They want not only to help people stop smoking but also to deter young people from taking up this habit.

Director of the health campaigning charity ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), Deborah Arnott, said:

"The Government should be congratulated for this impressive result which shows what can be achieved if resources are allocated for preventing tobacco use. However, in order to drive smoking rates down even further it's important that the Government builds a comprehensive tobacco control strategy on recent successes and implements. As part of a review of the NHS future, Derek Wanless (the Government's economic adviser) proposed challenging targets to reduce smoking prevalence to 17% by 2010 and to 11% by 2022... In order to achieve this, the Government must develop a new strategy including proven measures such as raising the tax on tobacco and reducing smuggling as well as increasing controls on the sale of tobacco."