PRESS RELEASE

A new national strategy that aims to cut the number of smokers from 21 per cent to 10 per cent of the population by 2020 has been announced by the government and Brent is signing up to it. More smokers will get professional help and support to stop smoking, with a wider range of options being made available.

The themes of the new national strategy are:
• motivating and assisting every smoker to quit
• stopping young people from starting smoking
• protecting our families and communities from tobacco-related harm.

Smoking is the most preventable cause of death and ill health in Brent. In 2009, 247 deaths were directly caused by smoking.

Brent Stop Smoking Service helped nearly 2000 people to kick the habit last year. This leaves an estimated 45,000 people in Brent who still smoke. Seven out of every 10 smokers want to give up.

NHS Brent and Brent Council have joined forces to help every smoker, no matter how addicted they are or how many times they've tried to stop. A new local approach will support the national changes and this has seen early success with almost 400 smokers in January seeking help to give up.

The Brent Tobacco Control Alliance are working to reduce the number of smokers, especially amongst groups with the highest smoking rates. The Alliance is also working to ensure that shisha and chewing tobacco use, which is on the rise in Brent, are always sold legally, i.e. never to minors and, in the case of shisha, always outside substantially enclosed buildings. The first fixed penalty notice have been issued in Brent for breaching smokefree law, prosecutions have been taken for incorrect labelling of tobacco products and further prosecutions are pending for serious breaches of smokefree law and sale of cigarettes to minors.

Dr Jim Connelly, NHS Brent's Director of Public Health and Regeneration, said: ""Every day morepeople are taking up the smoking habit . This is particularly significant inr Brent as we have arelatively young and diverse population. So for every person that we help to stop, another needs to be prevented from starting".

David Thrale, Director of Environmental Health at Brent Council, said: "The new local Stop Smoking Alliance of local businesses, NHS and the council will put us in a much stronger position to help local people to quit. The council has a number of prosecutions pending for selling cigarettes to children and breaches of smokefree law by adults".

For information and advice on stopping smoking please contact the Brent Stop Smoking Service on 020 8795 6669.

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