ASH comment on new figures from CRUK showing cancer cases reaching an all-time high

In an open letter published in the BMJ today, the government is urged to put reintroduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill front and centre when it sets out its priorities for the parliamentary session in the King’s speech. The letter also calls on the government to publish its Roadmap to a Smoke-free Britain within the first year in office.

The open letter to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health has been signed by over 1,400 leading charities including CRUK, medical royal colleges, doctors, academics, healthcare workers and public health professionals.

It points out that Labour cannot achieve its manifesto commitment to halve differences in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions unless it prioritises ending smoking. This will also deliver on Labour’s commitment to deliver productivity growth in every part of the country, as the greatest financial impact of smoking is not on the health and social care system, but the cost of lost productivity. The estimated cost to the UK economy in 2023 was £55 billion, made up of £2.2 billion to the NHS, £18 billion in social care costs, and £34 billion in lost productivity.

In addition to the letter in the BMJ, every MP is being sent a parliamentary brief calling for their support for the immediate reintroduction of the Tobacco & Vapes Bill. MPs are also being provided with data on the level of support for phasing out smoking in their constituency. Phasing out the sale of tobacco is supported by more than two-thirds of adults (69%) [1] and 11-15-year-olds (67%)[2] who will be the first generation to whom the sale of tobacco will forever be banned. The majority of the population in every constituency in Great Britain supports the legislation, with the highest level of support (74%) in the Prime Minister’s constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.[2]

See below for quotes by leading signatories to the letter.

Prof Sir Mike Richards, former National Cancer Director at the Department of Health and Chair of the UK National Screening Committee, said,
“Despite smoking rates halving over the last two decades, tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable premature death, causing 160 new cases of cancer every day. The Labour government’s commitment to embed a focus on prevention in the healthcare system is welcome, and will ensure that the millions of already-addicted smokers continue to get the help they need to quit. However, the best form of prevention is to stop people becoming addicted in the first place, and that’s why Labour needs to urgently bring back the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to phase out smoking for generations to come.”

Prof Nick Hopkinson, chair of Action on Smoking and Health said,
“Together as concerned doctors and clinicians, charities and public health experts we have united to urge the new government to prioritise bringing back the Tobacco and Vapes Bill without delay. Britain was the birthplace of the tobacco industry, an industry which killed over 100 million people in the twentieth century and is on track to kill 1 billion in the twenty-first, mainly in low and middle-income countries. The UK now has the chance to lead the world in phasing out smoking forever. Our new government must seize it with both hands.”

Dr Chris van Tulleken, University College London Hospital (UCLH) said:
"As a physician and advocate for public health, I firmly believe that phasing out the sale of tobacco to the next generation is a critical step towards a healthier future. The tobacco industry has caused 8 million premature deaths in this country over the last 50 years. Protecting the next generation from these harms will pave the way for a society where the health and wellbeing of our children come first."

Sarah Woolnough, Chief Executive of The King’s Fund said:
“If the government is truly committed to reducing health inequalities and improving life expectancy, phasing out smoking has to be a key priority. Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death in England and is responsible for half the difference in life expectancy between the lowest and highest income groups. The health and social consequences and economic costs smoking imposes on society are also far greater than the tax revenue paid.”

“People who smoke are more likely to suffer from long-term conditions and die prematurely as well as needing social care on average ten years earlier and earning less than non-smokers. Moving to a smokefree generation would be a significant step towards improving healthy life expectancy, reducing disease and disability as well as reducing pressures on the entire health and care system.”

Greg Fell, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health said:
“No other product is as uniquely dangerous as cigarettes, which, if used according to the manufacturers’ instructions, kills up to two thirds of its users and causes a wide range of harms, disease and illness. Phasing out smoking would save thousands of lives, help protect the next generation from ever becoming addicted to this lethal product and do more to narrow the unacceptably large gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions than any other single measure.”

Mark Rowland, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation said,
“Phasing out the sale of tobacco would be a major step in protecting the public’s mental health and could do more to benefit the physical and mental health of psychiatric patients than any other single measure. Smoking increases your risk of poor mental health and you are much more likely to start smoking and to become heavily addicted if you already have a mental health condition. The more addicted you are, the harder it is to quit, even though successful quitting is associated with reduced levels of anxiety and depression.

“In Britain today about one third of cigarettes are smoked by someone with a mental disorder, and smoking rates among people with serious mental illness are triple that of the general population. If you have serious mental health problems you are likely to die nearly twenty years prematurely, primarily because of diseases caused by smoking.”

Prof Linda Bauld, OBE, Director of the SPECTRUM public health research consortium said,
“The UK is ideally placed to be the first country to phase out smoking forever, with the strong support of all the devolved nations. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will also ensure our governments have the powers they need to curb youth vaping while ensuring nicotine vapes remain accessible to adults so people who smoke have access to the most effective quitting aid. We have a world-class academic community carrying out cutting-edge research on tobacco and vaping. Our research teams can monitor the impact of the legislation once implemented and ensure that any changes needed to improve the impact of the legislation can be identified and put in place in a timely manner.”

Paul Farmer, Chief Executive Officer of Age UK, said:
“Age UK works to improve the health and wellbeing of current and future generations of older people and the legislation will benefit everyone by phasing out the sale of tobacco and helping adult smokers to quit. As people age, sustaining their health and wellbeing becomes vital to ensure they are to be able to do the things they want to do in later life. Even in their 60s, 70s, or beyond and however long or heavily they have smoked, smokers who quit will benefit from improvements in their mental and physical health and wellbeing. Phasing out smoking will increase healthy life expectancy in both current and future generations of older people and must be a priority for the incoming government."

John Maingay, Director of Policy, British Heart Foundation, said:
“Smoking continues to devastate the nation’s health, taking 15,000 UK lives every single year due to cardiovascular disease alone. Decisive action is needed to end this ongoing public health tragedy and we urge the incoming government to reintroduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to parliament without delay.”

ENDS

Notes to the Editor
Action on Smoking and Health is a health charity working to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco use. For more information see: ash.org.uk. ASH receives funding for its programme of work from Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.

Contact: press@ash.org.uk. Deborah Arnott (Chief Executive) and Hazel Cheeseman (Deputy Chief Executive) are available for media interviews.

[1] Smokefree GB 2024 poll by YouGov Plc for ASH. Total sample size was 13266 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 29th February and 18th March 2024. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Question used: The Government has announced legislation to raise the age of sale for tobacco for those born in 2009 or later by one year, every year, so it will never be legal to sell them tobacco. To what extent, if at all, would you support or oppose this measure?

Questions about support for policy in the 2024 ASH/YouGov poll were preceded by a question asking people: Were you aware that 2 out of 3 long-term smokers will die of smoking-related illnesses? This may have influenced some people’s responses and resulted in a higher level of support. The level of support found in the 2024 poll is, however, similar to the support found in other surveys including ASH/ YouGov Nov 2023 67% support, The Times/ YouGov September 2023 70%

[2] Smokefree GB Youth Survey 2024. Total sample size was 2,872 young people aged 11-18. There were 1,644 young people aged 11-15. Fieldwork was undertaken between 21st March and 23rd
April 2024. The survey was carried out online by YouGov. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB young people aged 11-15.

2024 Question: The Government has announced legislation to raise the age of sale for tobacco for those born in 2009 or later by one year, every year, so it will never be legal to sell them tobacco. To what extent, if at all, would you support or oppose this measure?

[3] YouGov MRP (multi-level modelling and post-stratification) model, using data collected for the 2024 Smokefree GB poll for ASH (see above) to calculate support by parliamentary constituencies in place for the general election in July. These are estimates based on modelling. Fieldwork was undertaken between 29th February and 18th
March 2024.

Constituency breakdowns are available from ASH at: https://ashresources.shinyapps.io/mrp_constituencies/