Government budget cuts ‘may jeopardise smoking cessation services’

Smoking cessation services across England are facing ongoing budget cuts that are making them difficult to maintain, according to a new report.

Research carried out by ASH and Cancer Research UK has shown that six in ten local authorities have been forced to reduce their funding in the last year, which is an issue as local councils became responsible for smoking cessation services and tobacco control in 2013.

As such, 48 percent of budgets for quitting services have been cut by more than five percent, while 45 percent of local authorities have cut their budgets for other tobacco control work, such as tackling the illegal tobacco market and preventing young people from taking up smoking.

In 20 percent of cases, it was shown that a specialist stop smoking service had been entirely replaced by a broader lifestyle advice service, despite limited evidence that these types of services are effective for smoking cessation without the input of trained specialist advisers.

Alison Cox, Cancer Research UK's director of cancer prevention, said: "Tobacco is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer, and we urge the government to do all it can to reduce the wholly avoidable burden of smoking-related diseases."

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