Britain could see the legal age of buying cigarettes rise to 25.
Javed Khan, former chief executive of children’s charity Barnardo’s, is leading an independent review on how to stop smoking in England. But with an estimated six million smokers still in the nation there could be a long way to go.
The Government has set a target of getting the country to go 'smoke-free' by 2030. There has already been a steady drop in smoking over the past 20 years, with cigarette use falling from 15.8% in 2019 to 14.5% in 2020.
READ MORE: Merseyside smokers aiming to quit had better chance of success during pandemic
But now, Mr Khan is considering whether to raise the minimum age to buy cigarettes to 25 in England in a bid to stop people picking up the habit. It comes after the Office for National Statistics showed that tobacco is still the single largest cause of preventable death in England, with 64,000 people dying from smoking in 2019.
Mr Khan thinks that change needs to happen in order to reach the target for 2030. He thinks that the Government should harness the power of social media to crack down on smoking like it did to get people vaccinated during the pandemic.
He told the Times: "Just look at the Covid experience, mass marketing has a big effect, it really works. The government went hell for leather, it made an enormous difference in vaccination rates."
Last month Mr Khan took to social media himself, as he asked the public what they thought on Twitter. He said: "I want to hear your views and what we can do to support current smokers to quit, and to stop people taking up smoking.
"How do we stop people, especially children and young people, from starting smoking in the first place? Have you ever used a Stop Smoking Service to quit smoking? Or spoken to your GP about it? What was your experience?"
He added: “I am very pleased to be leading this review into such an important area of public health. My independent findings will help highlight key interventions which can help the government achieve its ambitions to be smoke-free by 2030 and tackle health disparities.”
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