Print ‘smoking kills’ warning on PERSONAL cigarettes, says Tory
Ministers have told ministers that putting a health warning on every cigarette would make Britain a world leader in phasing out smoking.
Tobacco manufacturers would have to use eight different warnings alternately on their sticks and rolls under the provisions of the Tobacco Bar Health Alerts Bill.
These will include ‘stop smoking’ and other messages to highlight the devastating health effects, financial costs and contact details for advice on quitting.
Cookham’s conservative counterpart Lord Young has spent four decades lobbying for his proposal to become law. He first elevated it to health minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1979.
Tobacco manufacturers would have to use eight different warnings that rotate on their sticks and rolls under the provisions of the Tobacco Stick Health Alerts Bill (a mocking version of one of the warnings). )
Cookham’s conservative counterpart Lord Young has spent four decades lobbying for his proposal to become law. He first raised it to minister of health in Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1979
He told Lords: ‘This has the potential to be particularly effective in dissuading children, who tend to start smoking with individual cigarettes rather than packs.
‘The UK is without a doubt among the most successful countries in the world in tackling the tobacco epidemic, and we tend to follow rather than lead when it comes to bold policies to tackle this deadly addiction.
‘This bill gives us the opportunity to be first, helping to strengthen our position as a world leader in tobacco control.
‘We know only a third of the 280 children who smoke a day in the UK will successfully quit.’
He added that another third will go on to die from smoking-related illnesses. ‘
Lord Young said: ‘I first proposed the tobacco warning when I was health minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government in the late 1970s.
Javed Khan, pictured, the former CEO of children’s charity Barnardo’s, is mulling over the idea of a ban
The number of smokers aged 16 and over in the UK continued to decline last year, falling by 1.3%, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
‘By 2024, I’ve been in Congress for 50 years, I hope I won’t have to wait that long before this policy is introduced.’ ‘
As for Labor, former public health minister Baroness Merron said: ‘This is a well thought out and sensible Bill.’
Boris Johnson’s administration has not offered to support the Bill, which wiped out the Lords after receiving its third reading.
Health Secretary Lord Kamall said: ‘The Government is committed to reducing the harm caused by tobacco and is proud of the lasting progress successive governments have made in reducing smoking rates – now at 13.5%, the lowest level on record.
‘But we cannot be complacent. With almost 6 million smokers in the UK, smoking remains one of the biggest causes of health disparities and places a disproportionate burden on our most disadvantaged families and communities. ‘
He underlined the Government’s ambition for a smoke-free UK by 2030 and said he had ensured the white paper and tobacco control plan would be ‘published by the end of the year’.
The bill is unlikely to progress in its current form due to the lack of time for parliament to further consider it in the House.
Last week, it was revealed that those under the age of 25 could be banned from buying cigarettes under a plan outlined by the new anti-smoking tsar.
Javed Khan OBE, former CEO of children’s charity Barnardo’s, is now leading an independent review of Britons’ ways to stop smoking.
He is considering a ban, similar to the one already in place in New Zealand.
A report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that usage fell from 15.8% in 2019 to 14.5% last year.
This equates to 7.6 million people over the age of 16, down from a high of just under 27 million in the 1970s, when half of all adults engaged in the habit.
Rates have steadily fallen over the past two decades, with officials announcing an end to smoking is finally in the spotlight.
Health warnings on packaging became mandatory in 2002, advertising was banned in 2003 and indoor smoking was banned in 2007.
Officials followed up the measures in 2017 with a policy that meant all branded packaging had to be replaced with plain green-brown boxes.
Source: | This article originally belonged to Dailymail.co.uk