Government response to tobacco standardised packaging review
4 Apr 2014 03:14 PM
Government minded to
introduce regulations to provide for standardised packaging of tobacco
products, subject to a short consultation.
The Government has announced
that it is minded to introduce regulations to provide for standardised
packaging of tobacco products, subject to a short
consultation.
The announcement follows Sir
Cyril Chantler presenting the report of his independent review into whether or
not the introduction of standardised packaging is likely to have an effect on
public health, particularly for children, to the Government.
The report makes a compelling
case that if standardised packaging were introduced it would be very likely to
have a positive impact on public health and that would include health benefits
for children.
The report states that branded
packaging plays an important role in encouraging young people to smoke and that
it is highly likely that standardised packaging would serve to reduce the rate
of children taking up smoking. It also concludes that standardised packaging is
likely to contribute to a modest but important reduction in smoking and
therefore have a positive impact on public health.
In light of this review and the
responses to our consultation in 2012, Health Ministers are currently minded to
proceed with introducing regulations to provide for standardised
packaging.
Across the UK, over 200,000
children aged between 11-15 start smoking every year – this equates to
around 600 children starting smoking every day. Sir Cyril Chantler’s
review makes the point that if this rate was reduced by just 2 per cent it
would mean that 4,000 fewer children would be taking up smoking each
year.
Public Health Minister Jane
Ellison said:
Smoking kills nearly 80,000
people each year in England alone and our cancer outcomes stubbornly lag behind
much of Europe. Quite apart from the enormous pressure this creates on the NHS,
it is a cruel waste of human potential.
Yet we know that the vast
majority of smokers want to quit and even more tragically we also know that two
thirds of smokers become addicted before they are 18. As a nation therefore we
should consider every effective measure we can to stop children taking up
smoking in the first place.
I would like to thank Sir Cyril
and his team for their work and for their thorough analysis of the evidence on
standardised packaging.
However, in order to ensure that
the decision is properly and fully informed, the Department of Health intends
to run a final short consultation so that any further or new views can be
considered. That consultation will include draft regulations so that it is
clear what is intended. The Department of Health aims to publish this
consultation by the end of April.
The further consultation on
standardised packaging will ensure that all stakeholders can see from the
detail of draft regulations what standardised packaging would mean in practice
and provide an opportunity for those with an interest to highlight anything new
since the last consultation that is relevant to making a decision on this
policy.
Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally
Davies said:
Smoking is the greatest
preventable cause of death in the UK. One in two smokers die as a direct result
of smoking and it can lead to many serious illnesses, such as cancer and
coronary heart disease, that can result in disability, pain and distress for
individuals and communities.
Already in this country we have
made considerable progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking and the
consequent burden of disease but there is more to be done – it is
particularly important that we continue to focus on discouraging children and
young adults from taking up smoking.
This review only reinforces my
beliefs of the public health gains to be achieved from standardised
packaging.
So far, only Australia has
implemented legislation requiring plain packaging of tobacco. However, New
Zealand and the Republic of Ireland have also committed to introducing
standardised packaging.
The move follows other measures
by the Government to tackle smoking, most recently amendments to the Children
and Families Act to make it an offence to smoke in cars carrying children and
for an adult to buy cigarettes for children and to set an age of sale for
e-cigarettes.
Notes to
Editors
Sir Cyril
Chantler’s Review.
Public Health Minister Jane Ellison’s oral statement to the House
of Commons.
The Department of Health held a
consultation on standardised packaging of tobacco products in 2012. The
consultation document and the summary report was published in July
2013.
The Government asked Sir Cyril
Chantler to undertake an independent review to look at whether there is likely
to be an effect on public health, particularly for children, if standardised
tobacco packaging were to be introduced in November 2013. The terms of
reference were:
-
To give advice to the Secretary
of State for Health, taking into account existing and any fresh evidence, as to
whether or not the introduction of standardised packaging is likely to have an
effect on public health (and what any effect might be), including in relation
to the health of children. It will be a matter for the Chair to determine how
he undertakes this review and he is free to draw evidence from whatever source
he considers necessary and appropriate.
-
The review will report by March
2014.
-
It will be an independent
review, with advice to the Secretary of State contained in a report. An
independent secretariat will be appointed by the Chair, who will set out the
method of how he will conduct the review in more detail in due course. The
secretariat will be wholly accountable to the Chair, and it will be for the
Chair to guide and task them in their work as he sees fit.
Sir Cyril Chantler is Honorary
Fellow and past Chairman of University College London Partners, and
Non-Executive Chairman of the Quality and Clinical Risk Committee of NHS
England. He was Professor of Paediatric Nephrology and Consultant Paediatrician
at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, and Principal of the United
Medical and Dental School of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital and
Vice-Principal for Health at King’s College London.