Nov. 5 (UPI) — Britain’s ruling Labor administration on Tuesday brought before parliament a landmark bill that, if passed, would prohibit by law smoking in children’s playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals.
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill grants the government powers to extend an existing ban on smoking in indoor spaces to certain outdoor spaces in order to protect “children and the most vulnerable,” the Department of Health and Social Care said in a news release.
However, initial proposals to include outdoor areas in and around hospitality venues in England, including outside areas and gardens of pubs, bars and restaurants have been left out of the bill.
The measures form part of sweeping proposals to protect public health, the National Health Service and the economy by phasing out smoking by banning anyone 15 or younger in 2024 from ever purchasing tobacco products, creating a generation completely free from a “cycle of addiction and disadvantage.”
The legislation resurrects an anti-smoking bill by the previous Conservative government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of which the smoke-free generation concept was the centerpiece — but which he ran out of time to get through parliament before July’s general election, which he subsequently lost.
Advertising and sponsorship of vapes will also be banned and authorities will gain powers over the flavors, display and packaging of all types of vapes, as well as other nicotine products.
Retailers caught selling vapes to underage children face a $260 on-the-spot fine. Separate environmental protection legislation will see the sale of disposable vapes banned beginning in June.
The DHSC said the legislation formed a key part of the government’s reform agenda to shift the focus of healthcare from treating people after they become sick to prevention, claiming it would “address one of the biggest risk factors driving poor health.”
Smoking kills about 80,000 people annually in the United Kingdom, placing huge pressure on the NHS, and swallowing up $4 billion worth of appointments, scans and surgeries. The cost of smoking to the economy was even greater, with $23.4 billion lost in productivity every year, as smokers were a third more likely to be off work due to illness.
“Unless we act to help people stay healthy, the rising tide of ill-health in our society threatens to overwhelm and bankrupt our NHS. Prevention is better than cure,” said Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
“This government is taking bold action to create the first smoke-free generation, clamp down on kids getting hooked on nicotine through vapes, and protect children and vulnerable people from the harms of second-hand smoke,” he said.
Hailing it as “historic,” Streeting said the legislation would save thousands of lives and protect the NHS.
“By building a healthy society, we will also help to build a healthy economy, with fewer people off work sick.”
Tobacco is responsible for 1-in-4 of all cancer deaths and killing up to two-thirds of its long-term users, according to DHSC, with cancer deaths up 17% since 2003. Tobacco also significantly raised the risk of many major health conditions throughout people’s lives, including strokes, diabetes, heart disease, stillbirth, dementia and asthma.
Around 1,400 hospital admissions daily and more than 100 GP appointments an hour are attributable to smoking.
The bill was welcomed by public health experts and medical charities.
“Most smokers wish they had never started, but are trapped by addiction. Second-hand smoke causes harm to children, pregnant women and medically vulnerable people so reducing this is important. If vulnerable people can smell smoke they are inhaling it,” said Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England.
“A smoke-free country would prevent disease, disability and premature deaths for children born today and for people long into the future. Smoking causes harm across the life course from stillbirths, asthma in children and cancers to heart attacks to premature dementia,” said Whitty.
Welcoming the vapes advertising ban, Whitty called the marketing of the “smoke-free” product to children “utterly unacceptable.”
At least 25% of 11 to 15-year-olds said they had tried vaping in 2023.
Action on Smoking and Health Chair Prof. Nick Hopkinson said the bill started the “journey towards creating a country where young people will never start smoking and can live their lives free from the premature disability and death caused by the tobacco industry.”
“The U.K. is going to continue to lead the world in tobacco legislation,” he said in a news release.
“We welcome inclusion of powers to extend smoke-free legislation to outdoor places in the bill. It is important to have the debate about how we will protect children and vulnerable people from the harms of secondhand smoke,” added Hopkinson.
However, he said the key next step was for the government to spell out how it would help the country’s 6 million smokers quit. Hopkinson called for a levy on tobacco companies to ensure any plan was properly funded.