Tobacco

Did you know that despite the number of people continuing to decrease, 17% of adults in Kirklees still smoke? And 13% of mothers smoke at the time of delivery?

And despite tobacco smoking being on a downward trajectory, smoking remains the single greatest cause of preventable illness and early death in England. Smoking is associated with a wide range of health problems, including cancer, coronary heart disease and respiratory disease.

Our updated tobacco section of the KJSA looks at local trends in smoking, risk factors associated with smoking, and what we can do locally to support people to quit.

There have been some great successes in the last couple of decades in seeing smoking rates decline, but there is still work to be done to make sure that we create the right supportive environments to enable people to quit smoking.

Stopping smoking is the single most important thing people can do to improve your health with research showing that 70% of smokers wanting to quit. The Stop Smoking service in Kirklees available via GP practices, pharmacies and community providers and will be extended through the Kirklees Integrated Wellness Programme.  These points of access provide support and work with individuals holistically to help people to find solutions to things which influence their health and engagement in unhealthy behaviours such as smoking.

We know that children living in communities where smoking is less common are less likely to start smoking themselves. That’s why in Kirklees we are committed to supporting the vision of Breath2025, ‘to see the next generation of children born and raised in a place free from tobacco, where smoking is unusual’.  We are working with partners to achieve this, for example by promoting smoke free environments in education, sport and workplace settings, public and open spaces and NHS Trusts.

 

Priti Gohil – Health Improvement Practitioner Advanced, Kirklees Council