A declaration that commits Haringey Council to ensuring tobacco control is at the heart of its public health work has been signed by the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and the Director for Public Health.
The Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control commits Haringey to tackling the harm caused by tobacco in local communities.
Its signing follows the recent publication of a report jointly commissioned by Haringey Council and Public Health England, which revealed that many smokers are themselves calling for action to be taken against the widespread availability of cheap, illegal tobacco.
The report found that 37 percent of smokers in Haringey had been offered cheap tobacco, with more than 16 percent reporting this happened on a weekly basis.
Many smokers also reported that the availability of cheap and illegal tobacco made it more difficult for them to kick their habit.
Cllr Claire Kober, Leader of Haringey Council said:
“Signing the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control affirms our commitment to tackling the smoking epidemic in Haringey and supporting local people to live healthy lifestyles.
“Our work helping people to stop smoking is part of a much wider drive to reduce health inequalities locally, which includes leading London’s health devolution agenda and exploring the ways in which local authorities can take decisive action to create healthier communities.”
Tobacco remains the biggest cause of preventable illness and premature death in Haringey and contributes to half the difference in life expectancy between those better and less well off.
In Haringey, where around 1 in 5 people smoke, residents are able to access free stop smoking support from specialist smoking cessation clinics, at local pharmacies and online via a face-to-face consultation service with trained stop smoking advisors.
For more information on the stop smoking support that exists in Haringey, please visit our Stop Smoking webpage.
To find out more about our work addressing health inequalities in Haringey please see our 2015 Annual Public Health Report.
