Phasing out smoking will help Labour narrow life expectancy gap, say doctors

Doctors and public health campaigners have urged the new Labour government to ensure that plans for a smoke-free Britain sit at the “front and centre” of its domestic policy agenda.Labour was the first party to propose a policy of phasing out smoking, and it backed the previous government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill when it was in opposition.123 It also committed itself to implementing the policy in its pre-election manifesto.In an open letter to the new prime minister and health and social care secretary, published in The BMJ, 1200 signatories, who include doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, urged Keir Starmer to reintroduce the bill as an immediate priority when he sets out his king’s speech.4The letter points out that the last Labour government launched a cross government tobacco control plan in 1997 that led to substantial declines in smoking among adults and children after little or no progress in the…
Read Original Article: Phasing out smoking will help Labour narrow life expectancy gap, say doctors »