- Tobacco companies in the UK make a collective profit of about £1 billion a year
- One in 10 GPs do not provide access to varenicline which helps smokers quit
- In one in nine areas GPs don’t prescribe nicotine replacement therapy
Phoebe Southworth For Mailonline
34
View
comments
Cuts to the public health budget mean smokers in many areas can no longer access stop smoking medications from their GP, health experts have warned.
There is now at least one local authority in England where there is a zero budget for addressing smoking, a report by Cancer Research UK and Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said.
They said they are ‘deeply concerned’ that disadvantaged smokers are being hit hardest after finding only about three in five (61%) local authorities continue to offer all smokers access to evidence-based support in line with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
Cuts to the public health budget mean smokers in many areas can no longer access stop smoking medications from their GP, health experts have warned
Their survey of local authorities across England also found one in nine areas report that GPs are no longer prescribing nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches or gum, to smokers.
One in 10 GPs also do not provide access to varenicline, an effective prescription-only medication that helps smokers to quit.
Ash, Cancer Research UK and other health organisations have long argued the tobacco industry should be forced to pay to address the harm smoking causes and it is estimated tobacco companies in the UK make a collective profit of about £1billion a year.
The report suggests tobacco companies should be made to pay a levy based on the ‘polluter pays principle’, which would cover the costs of providing stop smoking services.
Ash chief executive Deborah Arnott said: ‘Thousands of people every year die from smoking with many more living with disabilities and disease.
‘Shrinking public health budgets make it tougher to provide smokers with quit services while tobacco companies pocket a billion in profit every year in the UK.
‘The Government should place a levy on the industry to fund the support smokers need.’
Cancer Research UK senior policy manager George Butterworth said: ‘National decisions to cut public health funding are having an impact on the ground.
‘A growing number of local areas no longer have treatment available for all smokers that meets the necessary standards.
‘On top of this, smokers in many areas can no longer access stop smoking medications from GPs.
‘We are deeply concerned that the erosion in support will hit disadvantaged smokers hardest.
‘We urge government at every level to ensure smokers have the support they need to stop smoking.’
It is estimated tobacco companies in the UK make a collective profit of about £1billion a year
Councillor Izzi Seccombe, chairwoman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) community wellbeing board, said: ‘Councils, which are responsible for public health, have had a significant impact on helping people quit smoking through a range of evidence-based, best practice programmes.
‘However, with one in five still smoking, there is a lot more to be done.
‘Councils’ efforts to continue to help people quit smoking are being hindered by the Government’s reductions to their public health budget, which councils use to fund stop smoking services.
‘We urge Ash and Cancer Research UK to join our call for reductions in councils’ public health budgets to be reversed so stop smoking services can be offered to all those who need them, and to avoid greater pressure from being placed on already overstretched local services.’
Public Health England (PHE) chief executive Duncan Selbie said: ‘Smoking is the number one killer in the UK and stop smoking services are the most effective way to help smokers quit.
‘They are a ‘best buy’ for improving the public’s health and should be available in every local authority.’
Share or comment on this article
-
![A passenger jet carrying 168 people came within metres of plunging into the Black Sea after it skidded off a icy runway as it landed at Trabzon airport in Turkey]()
Passenger jet with 168 people on board skids off icy… -
![Andrew Burke, pictured, has been named locally as the man arrested on suspicion of murdering Cassie Hayes]()
Man arrested over murder of TUI travel agent, 28, whose… -
![Asked if he will stand down as leader of the party, Mr Bolton said 'No' before stressing: 'You don't know the context']()
Embattled UKIP chief is spotted at Eurostar terminal with… -
![]()
‘I woke up with 10 minutes to live’: Jim Carrey feared… -
![Award-winning comedian Aziz Ansari is seen wearing a Time's Up initiative pin at a Golden Globes after party last weekend]()
‘It was the worst night of my life’: Female photographer,… -
![A murder probe has been launched after travel agent Cassie Hayes (right) allegedly had her throat slit. Her partner Laura Williams (left) has paid tribute following her death]()
‘She is my future wife and my forever’: Girlfriend’s… -
![Agony endured by terminally ill 11-year-old Melody Driscoll as she was weaned off morphine and steroids]()
A face of agony: Terminally ill girl, 11, set to be… -
![Today the Mail can reveal Miss Marney (above with Mr Bolton) has plumbed even further depths with horrific messages in which she joked with a friend about raping a baby]()
Revealed: UKIP chief’s glamour model lover, 25, joked… -
![Jamie Oliver (pictured) may be closing a dozen more of his Italian restaurants]()
Jamie Oliver may have to close 12 more of his Italian… -
![Britain is set to be put on a nationwide diet from March this year as public health officials impose new calorie caps on fast food and ready meals]()
Britain will go on a diet from March: Officials to order… -
![Shane Gilmer, 30, and his girlfriend Laura Sugden (pictured together), 27, moved next door to wanted suspect Anthony Lawrence a few months ago]()
Body of ‘crossbow murderer’ is found in a campervan 24… -
![Theresa May (pictured going to church in her Maidenhead constituency today) is resisted a huge bailout of stricken contractor Carillion]()
Carillion makes last-ditch plea to banks with £1.5billion… -
![Jessica Falkholt continues to cling to life nearly four days after her life support was turned off]()
Home and Away star Jessica Falkholt is still fighting… -
![Fears are growing of a major health crisis in East Africa as a girl died of a suspected fever which could be more deadly than the Black Death (file photo of nurses)]()
Panic spreads after girl, 9, dies of new eye-bleeding… -
![Found: Jerome was reunited with his father after British Transport Police Officers found him at London Bridge station]()
Missing six-year-old boy who was riding a toy scooter… -
![Five-year-old Amelia has fun on the ice rink at Beamish Museum in County Durham, today (SUN), as other pars of the UK brace themselves for frost and snow this week]()
Snow sweeps back into England as temperatures plunge… -
![Miriam Margolyes shocked viewers when she used an expletive on ITV's Peston on Dunday - but it was her comments making light of the #MeToo movement that led to her being slammed on social media]()
‘Do you f***?’: Miriam Margolyes shocks ITV viewers as… -
![The Queen was told that the crown jewels were buried under Windsor Castle and viewers pointed out she did not seem that impressed with the revelation]()
‘Did he remember where he put them?’ Viewers hail the…
Comments 34
Share what you think
-
Newest -
Oldest -
Best rated -
Worst rated
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Close
Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.
Close
Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?
Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual
We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.
You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.
Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5269281/Help-smokers-quit-slashed.html