Liverpool City Council unveils new strategy to reduce smoking

Smoke-free in a generation – that’s the ambition of the Liverpool Tobacco Control Strategy that is officially launched today [Monday 15 July].

The strategy, which was approved by the council’s Cabinet in June, now becomes the guiding document of the city’s ultimate aim of reducing the number of people who smoke in Liverpool to the point where the habit eventually becomes a thing of the past.

Setting out the city’s approach for the next six years, the strategy set out to tackle the issue on several fronts, from changing attitudes towards smoking to lobbying for legislative change, aiming to drive down the proportion of Liverpool smokers to just 5 per cent of the population by 2030 from the current level of just over 17 per cent.

The national UK average for people who smoke is 12.9 per cent.

Today, partners will join the city’s Public Health team at an action-planning event as they embark on the next stage on the journey towards a smokefree Liverpool.

The strategy by Liverpool City Council sets out Liverpool’s vision:

Liverpool will become a smokefree city allowing all our communities to live longer, healthier and wealthier lives in a city where they can play and work without exposure to the harms of tobacco smoke.

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and illness in Liverpool, with two thirds of smokers dying from a smoking-related disease. Smoking also costs Liverpool £623m each year, including lost productivity (£416m), health and social care costs (£201.8m) and costs associated with smoking-related fires (£4.4m).

The strategy also extends current messaging on smoking to include vaping which is particularly aimed at young people. The message is clear: if you don’t vape, don’t start.

Did you know:

Two thirds of people trying just one cigarette, usually as children, go on to become daily smokers
On average it takes 30 attempts to give up smoking
Each year a smoker in Liverpool spends about £2,451 funding their habit
In Liverpool just under a quarter of men smoke (23.8 per cent, 14.6 per cent nationally) compared to 10.4 per cent of women (11.2 per cent nationally).

The strategy also covers wider ambitions such as creating more smokefree places and robust enforcement around illicit tobacco and nicotine products and selling products to minors.

Cllr Harry Doyle, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture, said:

“We make no apologies for aiming towards the highest ambition with this strategy – to make smoking obsolete in Liverpool.

“There is no ambiguity around the evidence against smoking. The effect of tobacco on health is devastating, not only on smokers and their families, but on the NHS and social care services. Because of this, our strategy will tackle smoking from all sides – from supporting long-term smokers to kick the habit to ensuring that messaging to young people means that they will never start.

“I am also very pleased that the strategy will guide our work on vaping. Whilst vaping is safer than smoking and is cheaper, there is not enough evidence on its long-term effects which makes the increase in young people vaping a concern. Our message on vaping is clear – if you don’t vape, don’t start.”

Professor Matt Ashton, Liverpool’s Director of Public Health, said:

“We have already made significant progress in reducing the number of people who smoke. A fall of 25,000 smokers in Liverpool over the past decade is great, but it is not enough.

“The number of smokers in Liverpool is still too high and its effect on our communities, especially the most disadvantaged, cannot be overstated. To make the changes we want we need to start immediately – and that is what we intend to do.

“But the council cannot do this alone. Our partners have made a massive contribution to this strategy and now they are ready to help us turn these words into action.”

Dr Ian Sinha, Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician at Alder Hey, said:

“One of the major concerns about young people using vapes illegally is the uncertainty surrounding the long-term effects, as there is insufficient research around potential harm.

“Vaping could be damaging their still-developing lungs. Additionally, we worry about them becoming addicted to nicotine, the chemical in vapes, which could potentially lead to the use of traditional cigarettes. The appealing colours and flavours of vapes make them particularly attractive to young people, exacerbating this issue.”