Smoking remains the single leading preventable cause of illness and mortality in the UK. Worryingly around 19 per cent of adults in Erewash still smoke.
This No Smoking Day I am urging Erewash smokers to make a quit attempt to improve their health and help create a smokefree society.
By making a quit attempt today smokers will start to see the benefits immediately. After eight hours of not smoking their oxygen levels recover, and the harmful carbon monoxide levels are reduced by half. After 48 hours all carbon monoxide will have flushed out, the lungs will clear out mucus and sense of taste and smell improve. So please consider making a quit break today.
I am immensely proud that the Government is serious about the UK becoming smokefree within a generation. Government Ministers intend to raise the age of sale for tobacco products by one year, every year, from 2027 to prevent the next generation from becoming addicted to tobacco. The Government also plans to tackle the rise in youth vaping.
These are two issues that throughout my Parliamentary career and as a Health Minister I have been urging the Government to act on. I am delighted that Government Ministers have listened to my concerns and plan to introduce a Bill in Parliament imminently. I look forward to scrutinising this Bill in the House of Commons in the near future.
For more tips on how to stop smoking please click here.