The new Local Tobacco Control Profiles for England (published on 27 October 2010) by the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) detail the toll of illness and avoidable death caused by smoking in the North East, but also suggest there has been another recent drop in smoking rates.

Ailsa Rutter, Director of Fresh, responded: “Smoking is still our biggest killer and every statistic in this report represents a real family whose lives have been torn apart by tobacco. Despite record drops in smoking in the North East, we still pay a tragically high price for decades of high smoking.

“But there are glimmers of real hope. Today’s figures from GP data suggest another significant fall down to 19% of people in the North East smoking in 2009-10. And NHS Stop Smoking Services in the North East are also seeing more smokers and helping them to quit than anywhere else

“Many of the fatal conditions we are seeing now are the result of people smoking over decades. This all places a burden on every hospital, every GP, and every family, whether they smoke or not. Smoking costs the NHS around £5.2bn a year and the UK around £16.2 bn.

“Some of these illnesses, such as smoking related cancers, will only reduce over time, providing we continue to make progress in reducing smoking rates and protecting people from the dangers of secondhand smoke. That is why helping people not to smoke, or to stop, improves lives and saves money.”

Local Tobacco Control Profiles for England are an accessible web-based tool. They will be available from 00.01 on 27 October 2010 at: http://www.lho.org.uk/LHO_Topics/Analytic_Tools/Tobaccocontrolprofiles.aspx.

 They bring together a set of indicators at both local authority and primary care trust level that are specific to tobacco, and tailored to the needs of local users; they are outcome-focussed and relevant to the major modern challenges of tobacco control in England.

Further information on how the indicators were derived can be found at: http://www.lho.org.uk/LHO_Topics/Analytic_Tools/Tobaccocontrolprofiles.aspx.