Responding to a new report by Action on Smoking and Health about how at least 300,000 people have quit smoking successfully due to growing concerns over coronavirus, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said:
“Smokers are at particular risk of COVID-19 and it is encouraging that so many have quit the habit for good.
“We need to continue to support people to give up smoking altogether, both through the current crisis and beyond, if we are to save lives both in the immediate and longer-term.
“This includes reaching out to those most in need, including preventing children from taking up the habit and developing further health problems later in life, relieving pressure on other services such as the NHS, social care and welfare.
“Councils can help the Government to achieve its ambition of eliminating smoking in England by 2030, through their tobacco control and other public health and support services, but need certainty over their long-term funding to help do so.”
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