Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control

The Declaration provides a public opportunity for local authorities to publish a statement of their dedication to protecting local communities from the harm caused by smoking. The Declaration has been endorsed by leading figures including the Public Health Minister and the Chief Medical Officer.

Every year in England, more than 80,000 people die from smoking related diseases[i]. In York more than 300 deaths and 2000 hospital admissions every year are attributable to smoking related illnesses [ii]. In 2011-12 1 in 6 babies in York were born to mothers who smoked.

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New figures reveal hundreds of thousands of children regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in a car

New figures released by the British Lung Foundation (BLF) that show around 185,000 children between the ages of 11-15 in England are exposed to potentially toxic concentrations of second-hand smoke in their family car every day or most days.

That’s the equivalent of more than 6,100 classrooms full of children.

Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones, Director of Health and Wellbeing at City of York Council said:

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Hundreds in York could add years to their lives

More than 750 people in York joined a quarter of a million people across the nation in turning their back on cigarettes this month in the mass 28-day stop smoking challenge, Stoptober.

Research shows that stopping smoking for 28 days can extend your life by up to one week if you remain smokefree. The new ex-smokers from York are therefore celebrating their first steps towards a healthier, smokefreelife, and if they succeed in quitting for good, they could collectively add more than 14 years of life to the city’s population.

Taking part in Stoptober has reaped additional benefits:

·The average smoker has 13 cigarettes a day, which equates to 364 cigarettes every four weeks. Stoptober would have saved them £141 each over four weeks and if they remain smokefree they could save £423 by Christmas and £1,696 in a year.

Collectively, if all Stoptober participants in York quit for the 28 days this month they would have saved £106,314.

·With the average cigarette taking approximately four minutes to smoke [5], this Stoptober could have saved the average smoker over 24 hours by not smoking; and cumulatively the nation’s Stoptober participants would have gained over 680 years in spare time.

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