After new Health Secretary Therese Coffey was unable to confirm that a new plan to reduce smoking would be published this year, leading health figures including County Durham's director of public health have called for the Government to explain its plans to reduce smoking.
This comes amid speculation that a new "Tobacco Control Plan" announced in the summer has been dropped - and after Health Secretary Therese Coffey told media that she was “not aware” whether the target to get the adult smoking rate down to 5% or under has been axed. Ms Coffey was also unable say whether or not ministers were set to scrap the commitment to producing the control plan.
The Guardian reports that this is set to happen - but the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has said the Government's intention to publish the tobacco plan this year had not changed, but could not say whether it would be published in the coming months. In response, leading public health figures in the North East have joined a cancer survivor in demanding Government action to tackle "our biggest killer".
