National no smoking day
A Westminster Hall debate has been scheduled for Thursday 9 March for National no smoking day. The debate will be opened by Bob Blackman MP.
National no smoking day has occurred annually since 1984 and is aimed at those who are looking to quit smoking. This year, the theme for no smoking day is “stopping smoking improves your brain health” and is supported by Alzheimer’s Research UK.
The NHS provides information on local stop smoking services as well as some of the benefits of quitting smoking.
In 2019, the Government announced its ambition for England to become ‘smoke-free’ by 2030 – achieved when adult smoking prevalence falls to 5% or less – in its Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s green paper. The Government reiterated its commitment to the smoke-free by 2030 ambition in early March 2023. It explained that it was “still considering the recommendations made in ‘The Khan review: making smoking obsolete’”, with further information on the matter promised “in due course”.
The Government also confirmed that “tackling smoking and other causes of preventable ill-health and mortality [would] be central to the [forthcoming] Major Conditions Strategy”. This will be a single strategy for all major conditions, including cancer, with the aim of delivering more integrated ‘whole-person’ care. An interim report on the Strategy is due in summer 2023.
More information on the Government’s tobacco policies, as well as statistics on smoking prevalence, are available in the Commons Library briefing on The Smokefree 2030 ambition for England (published November 2022).
Parliamentary material DebatesSmokefree 2030 | 3 November 2022 | Vol 721 1058
Smokefree 2030 | 26 April 2022 | Vol 712 Col 202
Smoke-free England | 29 March 2022 | Vol 771 Col 277
Parliamentary questionsTobacco | 01 Mar 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Commons | 146834
Smoking: Health Education | 01 Mar 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Commons | 146833
Electronic Cigarettes: Children | 28 Feb 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Lords | HL5708
Electronic Cigarettes: Health Hazards | 27 Feb 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Commons | 147213
Electronic Cigarettes | 20 Feb 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Commons | 143782
Electronic Cigarettes: Children | 20 Feb 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Commons | 143768
Smoking: Health Education | 07 Feb 2023 | Written questions | Answered | House of Commons | 136681