The age at which people can legally buy tobacco in England should rise from 18 by one year every year, a Government-commissioned review has recommended. The move would effectively ban the current generation of children from ever buying cigarettes or tobacco.
The review also recommends the promotion of vapes as an effective “swap to stop” tool to help people quit smoking, as well as improving prevention in the NHS so smokers are offered advice and support to quit at every interaction they have with health services.
Dr Javed Khan, who led the review, said: “Without immediate and sustained action, England will miss the smoke-free target by many years and most likely decades.
“A smoke-free society should be a social norm – but to achieve this, we must do more to stop people taking up smoking, help those who already smoke and support those who are disproportionately impacted by smoking. My holistic set of recommendations for government will deliver this, whilst saving lives, saving money and addressing the health disparities associated with smoking.
“My proposals are not just a plan for this Government, but successive governments too. To truly achieve a smoke-free society in our great country, we need to commit to making smoking obsolete, once and for all.
“It was a privilege to work on this review and get the opportunity to improve the health of people across the country, and I look forward to seeing the government’s response.”
Health officials are considering “radical ways” to reduce the number of smokers in England, Sajid Javid has said.
Mr Javid told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “One thing I am very keen on is tackling the health disparities that exist in our country – and when our biggest killer is cancer and the biggest cause of that, of course, is smoking, and that is why I commissioned an independent review by Javid Khan."
He added: “It is right that we look at ways, radical ways, to reduce smoking rates in this country, they have come down significantly to around 15% of adults. We have a commitment in our manifesto to have a smoke-free Britain, that’s getting prevalence down to 5% or less, by 2030. I’m determined that we do that.”
Mr Javid said: "I think it’s right that we tackle these biggest killers and focus a lot more on prevention. And it’s my view that I think as a society that the NHS has sometimes been seen as something that you go to when you’re ill without actually thinking about how can the NHS and others focus on prevention to try and stop you getting ill in the first place.”
Commenting on the reports, Simon Clark, director of the smokers’ group Forest, said: “You don’t have to be 21 to know that smoking is potentially harmful to your health, it’s drummed into every child from an early age.
“If you can legally have sex at 16, drive a car at 17 and purchase alcohol at 18, you should be allowed to make an informed choice to buy tobacco at 18.
“In the eyes of the law you are an adult at 18 and you should be treated like one.”
There are still an estimated six million smokers in England.
The Khan review into smoking was commissioned to provide independent, evidence-based advice to the Government to help reduce inequalities linked to smoking.
Mr Khan was also tasked with identifying the “most impactful interventions” to reduce the uptake of smoking and to support people kicking the habit.
