Putting people before profit

Smoking costs 80,000 people their lives every year. That figure is more than just a statistic – it represents families and friends having to go through the heartache of losing someone they love far too soon. In fact, smoking is the only product that when used exactly as intended, will kill two in three people early, with its impact felt by thousands across the population every single year.

My family is just one example. Losing my dad at aged just 54 from lung cancer, directly as the result of a product that hooked him in childhood, left us without a dad and grandad –he never saw his children get married or get to meet his grandchildren.

My work as a Director of Public Health, and the work of many of my colleagues across the public health system, has been driven by the determination to end the devastating harm caused by smoking. Taking on the tobacco industry, which is backed by billion-pound profits and employs clever marketing tactics, has often felt challenging. But today is a landmark moment and a significant step toward ending tobacco harm for good, protecting the next generation from ever becoming addicted to this uniquely lethal product. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill introduces a sale restriction for tobacco, whereby people born on or after 1st January 2009 will no longer legally be able to be sold tobacco products.

By breaking the cycle of addiction before it starts, we will give individuals and families the chance to live longer, healthier lives, and support our communities and economy in the process because smoking costs the UK a staggering £43.7 billion every year through lost productivity and strain on our health and care services. And besides the economic impact, this legislation reflects what 65% of people in England want: a country where no one smokes.

Going back to the numbers, that’s 80,000 lives saved, children and young people that get to live and grow without these harms, and families free from the addiction and loss that has shaped so many of our lives.

For me, the Bill shows what is possible when we put people before profit. Now, to bring this fantastic policy into full effect, we need continued resolve and partnership across the public health and wider system, to support everyone involved in its delivery with the resources they need to effectively implement these momentous changes across communities up and down the country.

My dad is missed every single day, in both the small and big moments, and I sincerely hope that today’s Bill helps ensure that far fewer families have to endure the loss that mine, and others have lived with.