APPENDIX 10
Joint memorandum by the NHS Confederation
and the Local Authority Co-ordinating Body for Food and Trading
Standards (TB 22)
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 In partnership, the NHS Confederation
and the Local Authority Co-ordinating Body for Food and Trading
Standards (LACOTS) have prepared this evidence for the select
committee on smoking and the tobacco industry, as this subject
represents a significant area of common ground between the two
organisations.
1.2 The NHS Confederation is the membership
body for NHS organisations, representing over 95 per cent of NHS
Trusts, health authorities, health boards and health and social
services boards, and including Primary Care Groups as affiliate
members.
1.3 In response to the Health Committee's
enquiry into the tobacco industry and the health risks of smoking,
the NHS Confederation has sought submissions from English member
organisations of the confederation's existing tobacco working
party.
1.4 LACOTS was established in 1978 to improve
the quality of local authority regulation by promoting consistency
and co-ordination of enforcement. In addition to providing operational
guidance, advice and information to local regulatory authorities,
LACOTS provides technical input to legislative proposals. LACOTS
operates in partnership with central government, trade and consumer
organisations and enforcement agencies throughout the European
Union.
2. KEY FACTS
An estimated 28 per cent of all adults in England
smoke cigarettes[14],
and this is the single largest cause of preventable death and
disease in the country.
The majority of smokers want to stop (69 per
cent), however heavy smokers believe they are less likely to succeed
which is borne out by the evidence of quitting success rates.[15]
No single measure will be effective in reducing
the health consequences of smoking.
3. BASED ON
THE COMPILED
SUBMISSIONS FROM
MEMBER ORGANISATIONS,
THE NHS CONFEDERATION
AND LACOTS RECOMMEND
A Government role in providing consumer protection
through comprehensive smoking and tobacco control policy have
these objectives:
— To achieve a lower smoking rate in
all age and socio-economic groups of the population;
— To encourage non-smokers to remain
non-smokers;
— To encourage smokers to either stop
smoking or reduce their exposure to the harmful components of
tobacco smoke as far as possible;
— To proscribe all forms of tobacco
promotion; and
— To protect people from involuntary
exposure to the tobacco smoke of others.
And that these objectives be pursued through
the following measures:
— Allocation of Government attention
to tackling smoking through legislative reform and directed expenditure,
such that changes to trading standards regulations on aspects
like underage sales are paralleled with substantially greater
resources devoted to encouraging lower income groups to stop smoking,
and supporting availability of effective therapy through subsidies
for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
— Public information programme(s) involving
the profile raising and transmission of information to health
professionals and the public regarding the magnitude and complexity
of the problem—smoking prevention, smoking cessation and
effects of passive smoking.
— Targeted public education with aims
determined by the perceived needs of the target groups such as
tackling smoking in school populations through considering "tobacco"
as part of school drugs education strategies.
4. THE NHS CONFEDERATION
AND LACOTS SUPPORT
THE ROLE
OF GOVERNMENT
IN PROVIDING
CONSUMER PROTECTION
THROUGHT THE
FOLLOWING ESSENTIAL
COMPONENTS
(1) Packaging and labelling: Making health
warnings visible, understandable, believable and able to be recalled
by smokers; clearly labelling the constituents of cigarette smoke;
and mandating standardised non-brand packaging.
(2) Freedom from pressure of cigarette advertising:
It is inconsistent to allow any continued promotion of a product
that causes significant preventable death and disease—including
use of indirect advertising such as tobacco-branded, non-tobacco
products—acknowledging that total advertising bans in other
countries, where supported by educational and taxation programmes,
have resulted in significant declines in the prevalence of smoking,
particularly among younger age groups.
(3) Prohibitions on sales: Advertising regulations
enforced by trading standards departments, are complemented with
implementation of legislation that prohibits underage sales of
tobacco.
(4) Smoking cessation therapy: Where there is
an evidence base for the use of a therapy to facilitate smoking
cessation such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), this should
be made equitably accessible to smokers motivated to quit, and
without preferential treatment in the roll-out of funding such
as occurs presently with Health Action Zone (HAZ) schemes. Overall
therapy should be made available without out-of-pocket cost impost
for individuals where this could adversely affect motivation to
pursue smoking cessation and compromise outcomes.
(5) Smoke free public and working environments:
No-one should be exposed involuntarily to the health risk and
discomfort of cigarette smoke, and support should be given to
measures to ensure all people are protected from such exposure
in public and working environments. The first line approach through
the Public Places Charter should be monitored closely for compliance,
and if this co-operative approach fails then there be recourse
to legislation.
(6) Making available resources: The increased
provision of smoking cessation therapy and public education programmes
could be paid for through use of taxation powers to increase the
real price of cigarettes which in itself would reduce cigarette
consumption. A specific percentage of tobacco tax revenue could
be used to fund specific tobacco control and health promotion
activities.
14 Thomas M, Walker A, Bennett N Office
for National Statistics Living in Britain: results from the 1996
General Household Survey. London: The Stationery Office 1997. Back
15
Thomas M et al. (1997) op cit. Back
| 
