Devon health bosses sign tobacco declaration
Devon County Council bosses will be signing up to a national initiative this Thursday (Jan 16), to protect its residents’ health from the risks associated with smoking.
The Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control will be signed by Devon County Council Leader John Hart, Chief Executive Phil Norrey, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing Andrea Davis, and Director of Public Health, Dr Virginia Pearson, underpinning the council’s new public health role of protecting the public from preventable diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease.
The official signing will take place at Devon’s Health and Wellbeing Board, which consists of key health figures from Devon County Council and Devon’s district councils, Devon’s two clinical commissioning groups representing GPs and primary care providers, and representatives from NHS and service user groups.
The Declaration, which has been widely endorsed by leading figures and organisations in the public health community, including the Public Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer and Public Health England, commits the council to specific actions to reduce smoking prevalence and health inequalities.
These include developing plans with partners and local communities and participating in local and regional networks, as well as protecting tobacco control work from the tobacco industry.
Councillor Andrea Davis, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for health and Wellbeing, said: “This declaration underpins our commitment to our population to tackle the harm caused by smoking. It lets the tobacco industry and local people know our intention to protect children and young people from becoming addicted to tobacco and to keep illegal tobacco out of our communities.
“In signing this declaration we can build on the work we are already doing with our partners, including children’s centres, district councils and leisure centres to educate people about the damage smoking does to our health.”
Dr Virginia Pearson said: “Smoking is still the biggest cause of premature death and disease in Devon, with around 1,200 people dying prematurely across the county every year due to smoking-related diseases.
“Despite a general decline in smoking, just under one in five of all adults in Devon smoke, costing public services and the local economy around £200m every year, including the cost to the NHS, to employers in terms of lost productivity due to sick days and smoking breaks; house fires, clearing up litter and the effects of second hand smoke. Helping people to stop smoking is one of our top health and wellbeing priorities.
“We are pleased to be adding our signatures to this declaration, which has strong support from the wider public health community including the Trading Standards Association, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Association of Directors of Public Health as well as Public Health England, the Minister for Public Health and the Chief Medical Officer.
