Dr Brink – island needs to act now to be smoke-free by 2030
ACTION is needed now if Guernsey wants to hit its target of being smoke-free by 2030, director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink has said.
One in 10 of all deaths in over-35s in the islands in recent years were linked to smoking.
And while the number of smokers has fallen in recent years, that has been pretty static for the past decade at about 13% of the population.
Numbers are higher in England and Jersey.
‘We’re running our wellbeing survey in the autumn of this year and my concern is that unless we see considerable movement we won’t hit our own target of less than 10% by 2028.’
‘The UK are aiming for smoking rates of less than less than 5% by 2030, and that’s defined as being smoke-free.’
Smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK.
It can elevate the risk of deaths from numerous subsidiary causes, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease.
The medical officer of health annual report said that unless there was a significant improvement in smoking prevalence in adults, the target, set in the States’ Combined Substance Use Strategy, would not be achieved.
It hinted at ‘bold policy and legislative changes’ and Dr Brink said that there were a number of policy measures that could be put in place.
‘You can raise the price of tobacco, you can decrease nicotine content, you can restrict sales, you can restrict retailers. What I would like to see is a broader discussion on what is right for the Bailiwick.’
In November Public Health began trialling a free vape service for long-term smokers, but Dr Brink said it was too early to say if this had been successful.
‘In my view, the only role of vaping is as a stop smoking aid, that is only role of vaping from a public health perspective.’
She said the increased levels of vaping, especially in the young was a cause for concern.
‘We have put forward, to the Committee for Health & Social Care, a paper to regulate e-cigarettes, and I think that’s going to be important as we move forward,’ she said.
It is calculated that about 60 deaths a year locally are linked to smoking.
Smoking-attributable deaths were more common among males than females – there were an estimated 33 male deaths per year compared with 26 female deaths.
