New figures published yesterday suggest the UK will miss smoking rate targets by at least seven years if current trends continue.
Cancer Research UK has published projections on smoking prevalence among adults in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland based on available data.
The charity predicts England and Wales will miss their smoke-free target of 5 per cent prevalence by 2030 and will, in fact, not reach this until 2037, if current trends continue.
Scotland aims to reduce the smoking prevalence to 5 per cent by 2034, but these latest estimates suggest this target will not be reached until after 2050.
Northern Ireland aims to reduce the adult smoking prevalence to 5 per cent by 2035. However, the estimates suggest this will be at least 10 years behind schedule and will be even longer in the most deprived groups.
The charity is also predicting greater delays in more deprived communities. In England, the 5 per cent target will not be reached in the most deprived group until the mid-2040s. Similarly, in Northern Ireland, the most deprived group will not meet the 5 per cent target until after 2050.
Alison Cox, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer prevention, said: “Smoking – and its catastrophic impact on health – remains more common within poorer communities. So more funding is needed to help these disadvantaged groups to quit as they are increasingly being left behind."
“The tobacco industry makes more money every year than Coca Cola, Disney, Google, McDonalds and FedEx combined, while its products continue to kill people. It should be made to pay for the damage it causes,” she said.
