The plan to create a smokefree generation in England

15 February 2024 , 01:14

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One in four hospital beds is occupied by a smoker.

The addiction costs the NHS and social care more than £3 billion a year. Four out of five smokers start before the age of 20 and most want to quit but it’s tough.

Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said: “Smoking is based on addiction and most people wish they had never taken it up. As a doctor, I have seen many people in hospital desperate to stop smoking but they cannot.”

Thankfully, there is hope that the next generation will never start smoking, due to new legislation to be introduced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after January 1, 2009.

So those turning 15 this year or younger will never be legally sold cigarettes, creating a so-called ‘Smokefree Generation’ will save thousands of lives and billions of pounds for the NHS and economy.

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Smoking cuts an average of ten years from your life, causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK and is responsible for just over 70% of all lung cancer cases.

Once you decide to quit, you’ll experience immediate improvements in your wellbeing, save money, and enhance your prospects for a healthier life in the years ahead.

“People think smoking helps with stress – it doesn’t”

Vittoria Velti says she feels healthier and happier after giving up smoking

When chef Vittoria Velti gave up smoking, she found her health improved – and she could finally taste her food properly

More than 80% of smokers start before the age of 20 and Vittoria Velti is one of them. The chef who lives in south-west London was just 14 when she started.

“It was very stupid and I would not do it again,” she reflects. Vittoria gave up smoking when she became pregnant, only to start again with the stress of first-time motherhood. It was when she was pregnant with her second son, in 2020, that she quit for good. “I didn’t want to be a mother that smokes,” the 39-year-old says.

Her determination that her sons - now aged three and six - won’t get addicted in the future was a key factor in her decision to quit. “I’m definitely trying to avoid this,” she says. “If you see that your parents are smokers, you are more inclined to smoke. My mum was a smoker, and her friends were smokers.”

"We treat ourselves to better food instead of buying cigarettes"

Quitting has had so many benefits for Vittoria, including for her work as an Italian chef, for which she teaches cookery workshops to adults and children with her business Pasta and Play. “Smoking makes you lose your taste buds, so quitting really changed my work life because I was able to taste more. For a person working with food, it’s essential to taste things.”

At the peak of her addiction, Vittoria was smoking 20 cigarettes a day, so she has also saved a small fortune since quitting. “We now treat ourselves to better food instead of cigarettes,” she says.

Most significantly, smoking had affected Vittoria’s health, including causing her to suffer from low blood pressure. “I was always feeling tired and looking pale, just not feeling 100 per cent. And everything was smelly. Now I can’t bear the smell.”

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For someone who was otherwise healthy and sporty, smoking no longer reflected the active life that Vittoria was leading. After quitting, she felt noticeably healthier and happier.

“I don’t have any shortness of breath,” she says. “I used to be very depressed and anxious about everything. People think that smoking helps with stress, but it doesn’t.”

She also feels that she is stronger and able to fully take part in activities with her energetic young sons. “We’re all going skiing together,” she says with a smile. “Imagine if I had shortness of breath - how much less fun would I be able to have with them?”

“I hated smoking, but couldn’t quit”

Photographer James Kenny says he will never smoke again

James Kenny gave up cigarettes after a family hiking trip made him see his addiction differently

Even though James Kenny detested his addiction, he couldn’t give it up. “I smoked around 20 a day, which cost me about £13 a packet and by the time I stopped I hated being a smoker,” says the 39-year-old photographer from Northampton.

“When I started smoking it was seen as cool and it really isn’t now. We know it’s an addiction but I just hated everything about it - I felt really grotty.

“I knew the detrimental impact it was having on my health and finances and more than anything, I felt so guilty about my kids – especially when they’d beg me to stop.”

But a family hiking trip made James see his addiction differently. “A year or so ago, we got into hiking as a family and we all love it,” he says. “We’ve done Yr Wyddfa and Scafell Pike and next year we’re planning Ben Nevis.

“I’m embarrassed to admit that when we’d stop for a break I’d have a cigarette and think, ‘This is just grim. I’m outside in the fresh air and I’m puffing away in front of my boys.’

“I’d tried to stop four or five times before, but always went back to it. Not this time. I didn’t even plan it, I just stopped.”

It didn’t take long for James to feel healthier – and he noticed he had more spare cash too.

“I started feeling better so quickly. My taste and smell are back, I haven’t used my asthma inhaler for months, I wake up and I can breathe properly – I haven’t heard myself wheeze for months,”
he says.

“Now I am using an NHS app which supports you to stop smoking - the last time I checked I’d saved £862 and in a year it will be £4,380.

“Best of all is how pleased my family are that I’ve stopped. I was the most anti-smoker smoker you’d ever meet and I’m sure I’ll never smoke again.”

“I’m determined to stay smoke-free for my kids”

Jo Howarth was a smoker for 20 years

Jo Howarth had tried absolutely everything to kick her addiction, but finally succeeded when she found out she was pregnant

Like many teenagers, Jo Howarth started smoking because her friends were. “I was quite anti-smoking as a young teenager, but I started when I was 16 because I wanted to fit in with the cool crowd,” says the 52-year-old, who lives in St Helens, Merseyside.

“From then on, I smoked on and off for 20 years. I knew it was bad for me, but it was so hard to give up. I tried cold turkey and hypnotherapy and at one point I had a staple in my ear, but I never lasted more than about six months.”

"I started at 16 because I wanted to fit in with the cool crowd"

Jo works as a hypnotherapist and emphasises the importance of identifying a compelling reason to quit smoking. She found her reason after she got married. She wanted to try for a baby and knew she had to stop smoking, but it still wasn’t easy.

“I wanted to conceive so I cut down to one a day but it was still a struggle to get to that point,” says Jo. “But the moment I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I stopped. From that second, the thought of having a cigarette didn’t even enter my head. I’d wanted kids for so long that there was no chance I was doing anything that would
affect that.”

And she’s stayed smoke-free ever since. “As soon as the reason outweighed the addiction, I was able to stop,” she says. “Without it, I’m so much healthier and I’m determined to stay smoke-free for my kids.”