Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd
Blue Sky Offices Shoreham, 25 Cecil Pashley Way, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 5FF, UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44 (0)1273 434 943
Email: [email protected]
A new consultation has been launched seeking views on the introduction and design of pack inserts into tobacco products to encourage people to give up smoking.
The pack inserts would be placed inside the packaging of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco and would contain positive messages to encourage people to quit and signpost them to advice and support. They would also set out the health benefits of quitting smoking.
The consultation builds on a recent package of measures designed to drive the government’s ambition to be smokefree by 2030 – which means reducing smoking rates to 5% or less.
An evaluation of the policy’s impact in Canada found that almost one in three smokers had read the inserts at least once in the past month, and that those who were exposed to the inserts multiple times were significantly more likely to try to give up smoking.
Pack inserts could reduce tobacco-related harms
Smoking remains the single leading preventable cause of illness and mortality in the UK. It results in nearly 4% of all hospital admissions each year – equivalent to almost 450,000 admissions. Tobacco-related harms are also estimated to cost taxpayers an estimated £21 billion every year, including over £2 billion in costs to the NHS.
Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: “Smoking is very addictive, and it takes smokers on average 30 attempts before they succeed in stopping, so encouraging them to keep on trying is vital.
“Pack inserts do this by backing up the grim messages about death and disease on the outside with the best advice about how to quit on the inside. They will help deliver not just the smokefree 2030 ambition, but also the major conditions strategy, as smoking is responsible for all six major conditions from cancer to cardiovascular and respiratory disease, as well as dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal disorders.”
Other measures being considered include:
- funding a new national ‘swap to stop’ scheme – the first of its kind in the world – to offer a million smokers across England a free vaping starter kit, alongside expert support
- launching a financial incentive scheme – in the form of vouchers alongside behavioural support – to support pregnant women to stop smoking, with an aim to reach all pregnant smokers by the end of next year
- a new strategy to combat illicit tobacco, which will outline efforts to catch and punish those involved in the illegal market
The tobacco inserts consultation published on GOV.UK on 14 August will run until 10 October 2023. The initial report on the major conditions strategy will be published on GOV.UK on 14 August. The final strategy will be published in 2024.