The UK's Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is preparing for a ban on smoking for the next generation by introducing some of the world's toughest anti-smoking measures, The Guardian reported earlier this month. The measures the Sunak government plans to impose include fines on people for missing a hospital appointment and phasing out cigarette sales for the next generation.
The report notes that it is part of Sunak's government's consumer-focused drive before the next elections are scheduled in 2024.
The UK government's measures will be consistent with the ban on smoking in New Zealand last year. The island nation passed a law in December last year that would prevent anyone under the age of 14 from legally buying cigarettes. The country became the first country to institute such a ban.
Moreover, the plan also included reducing the number of stores legally allowed to sell cigarettes by a tenth, from 6,000 to just 600. This year, the laws came into force, and the government has tried to make it'smoke-free' by 2025.
The Guardian also quotes a spokeswoman for the UK government, saying that the country is aiming to become smoke-free by 2030. Would it be possible for 1 million smokers in England to receive free vape kits through our world-first'swap to stop' scheme, launching a voucher scheme to encourage pregnant women to quit, and consulting on mandatory cigarette pack inserts.
Last week, the British government launched a consultation to ask questions on adding health alert inserts inside cigarette packs to encourage more smokers to quit, saying they can enhance their life expectancy and save around 2,000 pounds per year if they quit smoking.
The proposed plan will feature inserts into the tobacco packaging for cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco with positive messages to encourage people to quit and signpost them to advice and support.
The messages will establish the health benefits of quitting smoking, for example, of improved breathing in a matter of days and a 50 percent reduction in the risk of heart attack within a year.
It will also show smokers how much money they stand to save by giving up, and the average person likely to save more than 2,000 pounds per year if they quit. Smoking, a main preventable cause of illness and mortality in the UK, remains the single leading preventable cause of illness and death, according to official estimates. It leads to nearly 4 percent of all hospital admissions yearly, equivalent to almost 450,000 admissions.
Tobacco-related harms are also expected to cost British taxpayers 21 billion pounds annually, including over 2 billion pounds in costs to the state-funded National Health Service.
In 2004, Bhutan became the first nation in the world to fully ban tobacco cultivation, harvesting, and sales under the Tobacco Control Act of 2010. Small allowances for personal possession were possible as long as the possessor had proof that they had paid import duties.
The tobacco ban was reversed in 2021 with the new Tobacco Control regulations and regulations 2021 allowing the import, sale and consumption of tobacco products. It was mainly done to stamp out cross-border smuggling.
In 2012, Brazil became the first state in the world to ban all flavoured tobacco, including menthol. It applies to all domestically produced and imported cigarettes.
In late 2016 Turkmenistan banned all tobacco sales in the country. The Pitcairn Islands had previously banned the sale of cigarettes in the country. It was allowed via government stores, he said.
On July 12, 1999, a division bench of the Kerala High Court in India banned smoking in public places by stating 'Public smoking is illegal for the first time in the history of the whole world, unconstitutional and violative of Article 21 of the Constitution'.
In 2003, India passed the Cigarettes And Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, which banning smoking in public places like restaurants, public transport or schools.
The same law also made it illegal to advertise cigarettes or other tobacco products.