Agenda item

Report of the Director of Public Health

The Committee received the interim report as part of the OSC’s review in 2017-18 on work to address the harms caused by tobacco.

The Committee were advised that the following issues and challenges have emerged from the review so far:-

·         Austerity and Public Sector budget cuts

·         Complex systems and historical siloed approaches

·         The role of the tobacco industry

·         The perception that the job is done leading to a shift of focus

·         The perceived difficulty of ‘doing’ tobacco control

·         The threat to the comprehensive regional tobacco control approach posed by financial pressures across the region

·         NHS focuses on treatment not prevention – smokers not universally encouraged to quit and given support and medication to do so

·         Funding cuts to public health and local authority budgets

·         Reducing demand for the current Stop Smoking Service offer

·         Persistent inequalities in smoking prevalence between different communities

·         Mass media campaigns cut to the bone

·         Enforcement cuts

The Committee were advised that the draft recommendations were outlined as follows:-

1) tobacco remains the greatest contributor to health inequalities and action to denormalise smoking and reduce prevalence lifts families out of poverty. The human, social and financial cost of tobacco to Gateshead means that it is vital to retain the Council’s strong commitment to comprehensive tobacco control, and in fact, increase our efforts.

2)  refresh and reaffirm our commitment to the 2025 vision of 5% adult smoking prevalence.

3)  invest to save principles would suggest the continuation of appropriate resourcing for this priority area.

4)  the smoke-free Gateshead Alliance should be supported to drive the emerging Gateshead Tobacco Plan forward  and to clearly set out action across the whole community to address the harm caused by tobacco.

5)  continued support and commitment for the regional Fresh Tobacco Control Office tobacco is important to continue development of hard hitting mass media campaigns which have a strong evidence base in triggering quit attempts, encouraging quitter to stay quit, and reducing uptake among children.

6)  action to be taken to address inequalities through community asset based approaches to develop co-produced solutions which aim to reduce prevalence of smoking in our more deprived areas and with those groups considered to be vulnerable.

7)  embed action on smoking in all other relevant Council and public sector plans through a Health in All Policies Approach.

8)  aim to embed NICE guidance (PH23) ‘Smoking Prevention in Schools’ across Gateshead schools.

9) Ensure training is available to provide people living and working in Gateshead with skills and confidence to provide brief advice and intervention on smoking through the development of the Making Every Contact Count initiative.

10) Maintain compliance with current smoke-free legislation and continue support for the new law which bans smoking in cars that are carrying children.

11) Renewed efforts to be made to increase public support for Smoke Free environments such as smoke-free communities and specified outdoor zones.

12) Support the NHS to develop nicotine dependence pathways and to become completely smoke-free.

13) Further develop stop smoking services to provide flexible options in a range of settings accessed by those at greatest risk.

14) Complete a Health Equity Audit (HEA) to inform development and delivery of Stop Smoking Services in areas of greatest need.

15) Undertake further work as part of Smokefree NHS work to further reduce the number of women who smoke during and after pregnancy.

16) Reduce harm through continued support for evidence based harm reduction.

17) Communication and media capacity for tobacco control is vital and the capacity to be proactive in terms of public relations activity and media should be developed so as to engage residents of Gateshead in the tobacco control agenda.

18) Advocate for a national tobacco sale and distribution licensing scheme, the tobacco industry bearing the full cost of its implementation and enforcement, with the aim of eliminating the illicit and illegal trade in tobacco, and to end selling of tobacco products to minors.

19) Deliver an intelligence led and targeted enforcement programme to reduce availability and supply of tobacco products to children.

20) Ensure compliance with legislation to reduce tobacco promotion (e.g. Plain packaging) and advocate for further restrictions.

21) Advocate for a new annual levy on tobacco companies to ensure they pay more for the harm they cause. Funding from a levy should be used to make smoking history for more families including support and encouragement to help people quit.