Agenda item

Mr Vira Doshi. Public Health Officer at the Council, advised that tobacco smoking remained the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in England.  There had been a renewed commitment from the Government on tobacco control and the report set out a call for action in Hillingdon to refocus and prioritise stop smoking to reduce long term morbidity and smoking related mortality inequalities.  Almost 7 million people still smoked in England and smoking was one of the largest drivers of health disparities, disproportionately impacting Hillingdon's most disadvantaged families and communities, cutting up to ten years from a smoker's life. 

Tobacco control was an intervention and more than just stopping smoking.  In Hillingdon, it was estimated that smoking created a £107.4m cost pressure: £94m impact on productivity; £7.6m in healthcare costs; £3.9m in social care costs; and £1.6m in fires.  Dr Javed Khan led an independent evidence-based review assessing the Government's current tobacco control policies and identifying the most impactful interventions for tackling health disparities associated with tobacco use. 

Concern was expressed about the increase in the use of disposable vapes which had risen from 7% in 2021 to 52% in 2022.  In May 2023, data showed that there had been a 50% increase in the number of children using vapes.  To make them less attractive to children, it was suggested that vapes use plain packaging. 

In April 2023, the Public Health Minister confirmed that the Government would be closing the loophole that allowed retailers to give free samples of vapes to children and review the rules around the sale of nicotine free vapes to those aged under 18.  Action would also be taken to increase education and the number of dedicated school police liaison officers to keep illegal vapes out of schools.  Mr Doshi noted that the long-term risks of vapes were not yet known. 

A tobacco control strategy had been developed to help reduce the damage that smoking caused to the body, society and the environment.  A Tobacco Control Alliance meeting had been held in the previous week which had introduced a collaborative approach to address tobacco control, smoking prevention and cessation.  The Alliance's terms of reference also included actions to reduce the availability of shisha which had been an emerging issue (45 minutes of shisha equated to the smoke of more than 100 cigarettes).  The feedback from the Alliance meeting had been very useful and would be used to inform the Tobacco Control Plan. 

Although Hillingdon already had a stop smoking service, the number of referrals needed to be increased.

It was queried whether the Council had any control in terms of things like licensing responsibilities with regard to premises that sold vaping products.  Mr Doshi advised that, although not recognised as a medicinal product to help people to stop smoking, some smokers might speak to staff in vape shops about switching to vapes.  Vapes could be freely sold through retailers but did have safety standards.

RESOLVED:  That:

1.  it be noted that:

a.    stopping smoking was the one of the most effective modifiable health interventions to reduce disparities in health across populations and had a societal and economic impact;

b.    the ASH data tool stated that the adult smokers in Hillingdon generated a cost pressure of £107.1m annually on the economy that equated to a cost pressure of £7.6m on health services, productivity £94m, social care £3.9m and house fires £1.6m; and

c.    the evidenced based review led by Dr Javed Khan (published June 2022) identified 4 critical interventions to deliver a Smokefree 2030; a target that fewer than 5% of the population would smoke by that date; and

2.  Health and Wellbeing Board Members, Hillingdon’s Health and Care leaders work with Public Health to ensure that stop smoking as a health inequalities intervention is prioritised and agree the Tobacco Control Plan and support implementation.