Smokefree Warwickshire Alliance
The Smokefree Warwickshire Alliance is committed to eliminating tobacco-related Health Inequalities across the county and to prioritising the protection of children and young people from the harm caused by smoking tobacco.
Forty-five representatives from 28 different stakeholder organisations met at the Techno Centre in Coventry on 25 March 2010 to advise on setting priorities and to renew commitment to the Smokefree Warwickshire Alliance.
Delegates heard about the Government's new 10 year strategy "A Smokefree Future" – A Comprehensive Tobacco Control Strategy for England which establishes a vision of eradicating harm from tobacco, describing aspirations and evidence-based policies to deliver the vision.
Representatives from NHS Warwickshire and Warwickshire Trading Standards presented information about the work being undertaken locally to:
- support the achievement of health and wellbeing targets
- narrow the inequalities gap
- reduce the number of young people who start smoking
- protect babies, young children and vulnerable people from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke
- Motivate and assist every smoker to quit
- tackle the issues of illegal and illicit tobacco
- reduce the 900 deaths and the £23 million cost to NHS Warwickshire every year due to smoking
See the following links:
A Smokefree Future – A Comprehensive Tobacco Control Strategy for England– Executive Summary
The Smoking Epidemic in Warwickshire, Dr John Linnane, Director of Public Health, NHS Warwickshire and Warwickshire County Council
A Comprehensive Tobacco Control Strategy for England – The National Picture – Martin Dockrell, Director of Research and Policy, Action on Smoking and Health
A Comprehensive Tobacco Control Strategy for England – The Regional Picture, Paul Hooper, Regional Tobacco Policy Manager, West Midlands
Partnership Working – a broader approach to tobacco control – Janet Faulkner, Group Manager Trading Standards Service, Warwickshire County Council
Smokefree Warwickshire Alliance – Sue Weston, Smokefree Warwickshire Co-ordinator, NHS Warwickshire
Helping Warwickshire Stop Smoking – Jane Wright, Stop Smoking Service Manager, NHS Warwickshire
Participants completed postcards identifying actions they will take as a result of attending the meeting. Click here to see a summary of the evaluation of the meeting
For further information in relation to Smokefree Warwickshire please contact:
Sue Weston, Smokefree Warwickshire Co-ordinator
NHS Warwickshire, Westgate House
Market Street, Warwick, CV34 4DE
Tel: 01926 493491 Ext 258
Mobile: 07900 228977
Email: sue.weston@warwickshire.nhs.uk
- Health Inequalities
Health inequalities can be defined as the differences in health status or in the distribution of health services between different population groups.