NEWS
NHS:
NEW LONG-TERM
PLAN WILL
TARGET SMOKING
RATE
BY STAFF REPORTER
The National Health Service will invest £183m in long-term plan which
will tackle smoking among other leading causes of preventable illness.
The NHS has unveiled a new long-term strategy
which aims to curb smoking in the UK. Smoking
costs the healthcare system billions annually. According to the NHS, more than half a million hospital
patients who smoke, including pregnant women and
their partners, will also be helped to stop for good.
Under the new initiative, launched in January, the NHS
will offer advice on how to quit smoking for good to every
smoker admitted to hospital. This will also include patients suffering from poor mental
health and those with learning disabilities.
This plan, which has been met with a mixture of optimism
and scepticism, is based on a similar scheme already
in place in Manchester, which is expected to save £10
million and over 30,000 hospital beds across the city.
An estimated 600,000 smokers will receive help to quit
over the next five years as part of the plan with smoking
hotspots being targeted specifically.
It’s not yet clear what role e-cigarettes will play in the
initiative, however the support for vaping as a smoking
cessation tool in the UK is on the rise, in particular from
Public Health England.
Announcing the plan, the NHS said:
“Problem drinkers and smokers who end up in hospital
will be helped by dedicated new services,” as part of the
initiative which promotes “prevention measures.”
14 | VM21