ASH Scotland wants tackling health inequalities to be Holyrood priority

Tackling health inequality will be the key challenge the next Holyrood administration will have to address, anti-smoking campaigners have insisted.

Ash Scotland said smoking rates in the most deprived communities are four times higher than they are in the wealthiest areas.

With a third of tobacco in the UK consumed by those with mental-health problems, the next government should also include smoking in its national strategy on mental health, it suggested.

In addition, it called for action to raise awareness of higher dementia rates among smokers, with the risk of developing the disease up to 70% greater.

With about 10,000 retailers across Scotland selling tobacco, Ash Scotland is also demanding assistance for retailers so they can shift their business model away from reliance on a harmful product in long-term decline''.

Chief executive Sheila Duffy said: Scotland's health priority must be to redress that balance and ensure every group has the support they need to take back control of their own health and well-being.

Smoking is rarely a simple, freely-made lifestyle choice and is heavily influenced by a range of social and economic factors.

To reduce the harm caused by tobacco, we need to look at the pressures which push certain groups to smoke and make it harder for them to quit.

Socio-economic status, mental health and the context in which people grew up all have a huge impact on whether they smoke.''

The Ash Scotland manifesto, produced ahead of May's Holyrood elections, said that in Scotland health inequalities are the widest in western Europe''.

It added: Smoking rates in the most deprived communities are four times higher than in the richest.

Almost half of adults who are permanently sick or disabled, or who are unemployed and seeking work, smoke tobacco.

Smoking rates are particularly high amongst people with mental health issues, the prison population and children in care. In every one of these groups, most of those who smoke say that they want to stop.''

With smoking rates among those suffering from mental illness not declining as quickly as the rest of the population, Ash Scotland suggested: The national strategy on mental health must recognise that tobacco use is causing disproportionate harm to people with mental health issues, and be clear that smoking should not be endorsed as a support or coping mechanism. This requires changes in the culture of mental health support services.''

While there has been great progress'' in research into the causes of dementia, the campaign group said there should also be acomplementary strategy for dementia prevention which addresses the various factors which increase dementia risk, including smoking''.

It said there were eight times more outlets selling tobacco than there are pharmacies, adding: The Government should commit to helping retailers shift their business model away from reliance on a harmful product in long-term decline.''

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