North East smoking levels at their LOWEST since records began
New figures show the number of smokers in our region have dropped by 29% since 2005.
New figures show that the North East has seen a fall in adult smoking rates, with levels now down to the lowest on record.
The Annual Population Survey (APS) shows that the number of people smoking in the region fell to 18.7% in 2015 from 19.8% in 2014.
This is a fall from 29% of people smoking in 2005 - a total of around 189,000 fewer smokers over that period.
The APS shows the rate of smoking across England in those aged 18 and over fell to 16.9% nationally, down from 17.8% in 2014, and an overall decline of 7.1% since 2005.
Martyn Willmore, Performance Improvement Delivery Manager at Fresh, said: "While we still have big challenges to reduce the harm of tobacco further, it’s very good to see this long-term decline.
“More smokers have had their eyes opened to the consequences of smoking and given the inspiration to quit, and fewer children are smoking than ever before.
“We would encourage anyone who’s tried to quit before but not been successful to be inspired to try again. It is also positive to see more smokers switching to much safer electronic cigarettes.
“Tobacco companies will still try to hook new customers and fight tooth and nail to stop any new measure to reduce smoking. We need concerted efforts at national, regional and local levels, but local authorities in the North East deserve praise for working together to prioritise reducing smoking related diseases.”
Amanda Healy, Director of Public Health for South Tyneside Council, and Chair of the North East Directors of Public Health Network, said: “Local authorities have prioritised efforts to reduce smoking and the diseases it causes, and the North East works together closely around this issue.
“However, we still have around 392,000 North East adults smoking – and rates are much higher in some wards.
"15 people in the North East still die every day from smoking related diseases, which is a tragedy for each of those families.
"As well as the terrible toll on health, tobacco places a massive financial drain on families, the NHS, businesses and local authorities.”
Claire Sullivan, Deputy Director for Health & Wellbeing at Public Health England North East, said: “We welcome this trend in falling smoking levels across our region. We know that smoked tobacco is the biggest preventable cause of premature death in the UK, and reducing smoking rates remains a key priority for Public Health England”.
“North East progress around smoking over recent years demonstrates how we can make a real difference to people`s lives by working together. We have shown this through our innovative work to reduce rates of smoking in pregnancy, and in the partnership work between Public Health and our two Mental Health Trusts – helping them to go fully smokefree across their grounds in March 2016.”
She added: “Yet there remains more to do. We need to maximise every opportunity to encourage smokers to quit. Whether that involves campaigns to highlight the reasons to quit and the support available to help smokers stop, or by ensuring that every part of the NHS is working together to encourage and support people to quit tobacco.”
A recent survey by Fresh shows that over 8 in 10 North East smokers have tried to quit smoking before and 2/3 of smokers have tried more than once.