​MPs, charities and health organisations are coming together this No Smoking Day (March 8) to call for action on tobacco harm. It comes alongside a warning to smokers that their chances of developing dementia are greater because they smoke.

A YouGov survey of smokers showed that fewer than one in five understand this risk, raising questions about the investment in government health campaigns in recent years.

On March 9, 2023, MPs will debate the importance of campaigns such as national No Smoking Day and call on the government to explain why it has cut funding for tobacco control, with the worst cuts hitting public health campaigns.

Government funding for No Smoking Day has been cut completely, and total funding for anti-smoking campaigns has been cut by over 95 per cent in real terms in the past 12 years, from £23.3 million in 2008/9 to around £1.32 million in 2020/21 (the last full year data has been made available).

This is despite a commitment from the government in 2019 to make England smokefree by 2030.

The Tobacco Control plan to deliver this vision was first promised in 2020, and in 2022 the ‘Khan Independent Review’ commissioned by the secretary of state for health delivered a comprehensive set of recommendations for how it could be achieved. However, there’s been no sign of any government response to the review, nor of the Tobacco Control Plan.

In addition to these massive cuts in funding for health campaigns, government funding for tobacco control (including mass media campaigns and local stop-smoking services to help people quit) has been cut by 47 per cent since 2013, when responsibility for public health was handed over from the NHS to local authorities.

Bob Blackman MP, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, said, “The APPG on Smoking and Health is calling on the government to publish an ambitious new Tobacco Control Plan to deliver a smokefree 2030, with a commitment to reverse the reductions in funding for tobacco control and reinstate funding for No Smoking Day. Additional funding is vital so that the health campaigns, and all the other measures vital to achieving the government’s smokefree 2030 vision can be delivered.

“It is deeply concerning to see that smokers still do not understand the full risks of smoking given that more than one in two lifetime smokers will die from their addiction. I hope to hear from the public health minister exactly what the government will do to ensure smokers understand all the risks they are taking, including the increased risk of dementia, and are given the help they need to stop.”

According to Alzheimer's Research UK, dementia is the most feared health condition for people over the age of 55 – more so than any other life-threatening disease, including cancer and diabetes.

Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said, “Too few people understand that they can take steps to help reduce their risk of developing dementia in later life. This has to change, which is why improving people’s understanding of the things that they can do to maximise their brain health is a real priority for Alzheimer’s Research UK and should be for this government too.

“We know up to five per cent of dementia cases worldwide could be prevented or delayed by tackling smoking. We urge the government to implement the recommendations of the Khan review and commit to supporting future public health campaigns in line with the growing body of evidence linking smoking and dementia risk.”

Hazel Cheeseman, deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said, “Today is an important day for smokers to make the first step on their journey to being an ex-smoker. But a one-off awareness day run by charities is not going to make this country smokefree by 2030. There are still six million smokers in this country. These are people at risk of premature death and disease if the government does not act. It is past time that the government publish a properly funded Tobacco Control Plan.”

Author: