Health and care organisations across Birmingham and Solihull have pledged to tackle the biggest preventable killer in England, by launching into action in support of national Smokefree 2030 plans.
Smokefree 2030 aims to prevent children and young people from becoming addicted to smoking in the first place, and encourages them to make healthier lifestyle choices. It will also see additional support put in place for current smokers to help them quit.
Existing council-led stop smoking services within the area, which include Swap to Stop (using vaping as a quit tool) and online platforms, have seen thousands of people successfully quit smoking at 12 weeks.
As announced in 2023, new legislation is set to be brought into effect making it an offence to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. This means that from this year, the law will stop children turning 14 or younger from ever legally being sold tobacco products, raising the smoking age by a year each year until it applies to the whole population.
Ahead of primary legislation being put to a vote in the House of Commons later this year, Birmingham and Solihull’s Integrated Care Partnership has backed the legislation to deliver a significant improvement to the health of smokers and non-smokers.
Currently, tobacco is the highest preventable cause of disability, disease and death in this country. From increasing stillbirths, through asthma in children, to dementia, stroke and heart failure in old age, it causes disability and death throughout the life course. It doesn’t just effect smokers either – non-smokers, including children and pregnant women, are exposed to the impact via second-hand passive smoking.
As a result, the NHS has a huge burden of smoking-related illnesses to attend to, on top of all its other work. Across England, almost every minute someone is admitted to hospital as a result of smoking, and around 100 GP appointments per hour are associated with smoking. In Birmingham and Solihull alone, smoking-related illnesses costs the NHS £45 million per annum and impacts on key clinical areas including maternity care, mental health, chronic respiratory illnesses and cancer.
Patrick Vernon, Chair of NHS Birmingham and Solihull and Co-Chair of Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Partnership, said: “We welcome the additional investment in smoking which will help more residents to quit and tackle the health inequality gap. However, stopping people starting in the first place must be our key goal, helping us to prevent the 1,334 avoidable deaths each year from smoking and reducing the very significant impact that smoking has on demand for NHS services. As a health and care system, we strongly support the proposed legislation to increase the age of sale which is supported by the majority of people living in our region and which we know will help stop people starting.”
Mariam Khan, Councillor for Alum Rock and Co-Chair of the Integrated Care Partnership, said: “Working together as a system will allow us to provide the additional support our most vulnerable communities need, and I’m eager to build on our previous successes of local stop-smoking services. The extra funding in Birmingham and Solihull will go a long way in helping us to achieve Smokefree 2030. Work is now beginning on looking at where that funding can be best placed to make the biggest and most effective difference to our citizens. We are looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in the coming years, and the difference this initiative can make.”
Karen Grinsell, Councillor for Shirley East Ward and Co-Chair of the Integrated Care Partnership, said: “It is important for local health and care to take a joined approach to help end the damage caused by one of the most preventable killers in the country. I look forward to contributing to work which will ultimately see a decrease in smoking-related illnesses, particularly through future generations.”
Ruth Tennant, Director of Public Health at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, added: “The impact of smoking is immense, contributing to poorer health outcomes and in many sad cases, preventable death. By committing to tackle it as a collective, the NHS, local authorities and other community partners have taken the initial steps needed to support our communities to live their best and healthiest possible lives. The task we face now is to turn this commitment into action, providing greater opportunities for all to access the support they need to stop smoking, or to prevent our young people from starting smoking in the first place.”
Jo Tonkin, Deputy Director of Public Health at Birmingham City Council, added: “We have all come together with the same aim - to make a significant improvement to the health of smokers, non-smokers and to save the lives of the next generation. With Birmingham being one of the youngest cities in the UK, it is important that we equip them with the knowledge and support to make the right lifestyle decisions.”