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Tobacco Smoking

Summary of Key issues
  • Just over a quarter, 26%, of adults in Merthyr Tydfil smoke. This is near the Welsh average of 27%.
  • Adolescence is the prime time for smoking uptake with 82% of regular smokers in Wales reported as having started prior to their eighteenth birthday.
  • In a recent study looking at the health related behaviour of young people in Wales, it was demonstrated that although smoking rates are currently falling, following a rise in the last decade, figures for 2004 indicate that 15.5% of boys and 26.8% of girls still report smoking at least weekly.
  • Merthyr Tydfil Local Health Board is piloting a community pharmacy based smoking cessation scheme in collaboration with the Welsh Assembly Government. This complements the All Wales Smoking Cessation Service locally.
  • There are a number of initiatives to reduce the uptake of smoking amongst children and young people such as Smokebugs.  More information about these projects can be found in the Merthyr Tydfil Tobacco Control Strategy and Action Plan

 

It is estimated that 6,000 deaths per year are caused by smoking-related illnesses and that around half of all smokers will die as a direct result of their habit. It is also estimated that on average smokers live 10 years less than non-smokers.

The Wales Centre for Health and the Welsh Assembly Government have produced the Smoking in Wales: Current Facts report in order to provide a baseline of data against which the effects of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places can be measured.

The report deals mainly with data gathered between 2005-06 from the Welsh Health Survey, the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Survey and the General Household Survey amongst others.

 

The report shows that in Wales:

  • the percentage of adults who smoke has fallen over the last 30 years

  • in 2006-06, 25% of adults said they smoked, 28% said they used to smoke and 47% said they never smoked. This suggests that around 600,000 adults in Wales smoke [either daily occasionally]
  • Just over a quarter, 26%, of adults in Merthyr Tydfil smoke. This is near the Welsh average of 27%.

 

In a recent  study looking at the health related behaviour of young people in Wales, it was demonstrated that although smoking rates are currently falling, following a rise in the last decade, figures for 2004 indicate that 15.5% of boys and 26.8% of girls still report smoking at least weekly. Adolescence is the prime time for smoking uptake with 82% of regular smokers reported as having started prior to their eighteenth birthday.

 

 

Smoking is the largest single cause of preventable disease and death in the UK. It is the most significant factor in causing preventable admissions to hospital. There is a greater incidence of asthma, coronary heart disease, stroke, bronchitis and cancers amongst those people who smoke, and people who are exposed to second hand tobacco smoke. Second hand tobacco smoke is also major risk factor for conditions such as sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory childhood diseases.

 

The Health Information and Analysis Team of the National Public Health Service for Wales have produced a health needs assessment for smoking.  It covers indicators relating to children and adults who smoke tobacco.

 

Local Smoking Strategies

The Merthyr Tydfil Tobacco Control Forum was formed in March 2006. It aims to provide a strong framework for collaborative, multi- organisational working to ensure a consistent, co-ordinated approach to all aspects of tobacco control, with the ultimate aim of reducing levels of smoking throughout the Borough.

 

The Forum meets three times each year and has produced the TobaccoControlStrategyDocument-web update nov07.doc as a working document. Actions include the following:

 

  • Merthyr Tydfil Local Health Board is piloting a community pharmacy based smoking cessation scheme in collaboration with the Welsh Assembly Government. This complements the All Wales Smoking Cessation Service locally.
  • There are a number of initiatives to reduce the uptake of smoking amongst children and young people such as Smokebugs.  More information about these projects can be found in the Merthyr Tydfil Tobacco Control Strategy and Action Plan

     

     

    • Useful website links
    Want to Quit?
    STOP SMOKING WALES
    It is estimated that over two thirds of smokers would like to stop so you are not alone. Please call freephone 0800 085 2219 or visit the Stop Smoking Wales website at the following link.
    Here you will find information about stopping smoking and how to get free support if you, or someone you know, wants to stop smoking.
     
    MERTHYR TYDFIL PHARMACY STOP SMOKING SERVICE
    For more information about this local service, please speak to the pharmacist at one of the participating chemist. You can find a list of which pharmacists are involved here.