People quitting smoking highest in a decade

Action on Smoking and Health has suggested that more than one million people have given up smoking since the coronavirus pandemic hit.

A survey by the charity indicated that, of those who quit in the previous four months, 41 per cent had done so in direct response to the pandemic. Approximately seven million people in the UK were smokers in 2019.

Between 15 April and 20 June, a representative sample of 10,000 people, enrolled by pollster YouGov on behalf of Ash, were asked about their smoking habits. The results were used to estimate the total number of people giving up smoking in the UK.

Ash is launching a stop-smoking campaign funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, targeting people in areas of the country with the highest rates of smoking.

Deborah Arnott, director of Ash, said: "Over a million smokers have succeeded in stopping smoking since Covid-19 hit Britain, but that still leaves nearly five times as many who have carried on smoking."

Separately, University College London has been asking 1,000 people a month in England about their smoking habits since 2007 as part of the Smoking Toolkit Study. It found that, in the year to June 2020, 7.6 per cent of smokers taking part in the survey quit - almost a third higher than the average and the highest proportion since the survey began more than a decade ago.

Paulette Hamilton, vice chair of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Smokers are at particular risk of Covid-19 and it is inspiring to see that a million people have quit the habit for good. It is also encouraging that we are seeing younger people giving up smoking earlier on in life, but this needs to be replicated across all age groups.

“Councils’ public health teams are working hard to continue to reduce smoking rates in their areas, alongside local charities and community groups, and these latest findings are a testament to their efforts. We need to continue to support people to give up smoking altogether, both through the current crisis and beyond, if we are to save lives in the immediate and longer-term. This includes reaching out to those most in need, including preventing children from taking up the habit and developing further health problems later in life, relieving pressure on other services such as the NHS, social care and welfare.

“Councils can help the government to achieve its ambition of eliminating smoking in England by 2030, through their tobacco control and other public health and support services, but need certainty over their long-term funding to help do so.”