England could be almost tobacco-smoke-free within the next 12 years, according to a story by Harriet Williamson for Metro Café, quoting the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) agency Public Health England (PHE).
Duncan Selbie, described as a top health official, said that fewer than five per cent of people in England should be smoking by the year 2030, but he called on the NHS to do more to help people overcome their ‘addiction’ to tobacco.
‘Smoking should no longer be seen as a lifestyle choice, it is an addiction that warrants medical treatment,’ he was quoted as saying.
‘Everyone who smokes must be offered the support they need to quit.’
Selbie cited also cardiovascular disease and obesity as important areas for the NHS and Public Health England to address. ‘These three priorities are where the NHS and PHE should focus efforts,’ he said. ‘It is not that other priorities won’t matter, but these will need to matter most.
‘Successful delivery will require action from every part of civil society. We must pull together to use our resources and we must engage the public directly in the choices they are making about their own health and wellbeing.’
According to the NHS, smoking is responsible for 90 percent of lung cancers and can also cause cancers of the mouth, lips, throat, larynx, oesophagus, liver, bladder, kidneys stomach and pancreas.
Smoking is linked also to heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, infertility, pneumonia, bronchitis, and emphysema, and can worsen conditions such as asthma.
NHS figures from 2017 show that 14.9 percent of adults are currently classed as smokers, down from 15.5 percent in 2016, and 19.8 percent in 2011.
Aiming for five percent
