British Medical Association Scotland Response To Health Committee Report, Scotland

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Article Date: 16 Sep 2009 - 1:00 PST

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Young Scots' exposure to tobacco and the sophisticated marketing of tactics of the tobacco industry will be significantly reduced by the ban on tobacco displays and cigarette vending machines in Scotland, said doctors' leaders as they welcomed the committees support for Part 1 of the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill.

Smoking kills over 13,000 people every year in Scotland, which equates to almost a quarter of all deaths, and the NHS has to allocate vast resources to treating smoking related illness.

Dr Charles Saunders, deputy chairman of the BMA in Scotland said: "Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems. Every day doctors witness the death and despair caused by smoking. Tobacco is highly addictive and people need support to give up. Most people who smoke tell us they wish they had never started.

"It is essential that cigarettes are made less accessible to young people. Banning point of sale displays, a marketing tactic used to recruit new smokers, and getting rid of tobacco vending machines are bold measures which will make a real difference.

"We must break the tobacco trap. Young smokers will become tomorrow's parents who smoke and they will continue the cycle of smoking-related ill-health. Introducing this legislation will protect children and help prevent them from starting to smoke. The reality is that children who smoke face years of tobacco addiction that can lead to life-threatening diseases and premature death."

GP leaders, however, expressed disappointment over the committee's inconclusive position on the bid to remove a legal loophole which could allow commercial companies to hold NHS GP contracts.

Dr Dean Marshall, chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said: "The measures proposed in the original Bill seek to protect NHS general practice for the benefit of patient care. Any attempts to dilute this legislation could potentially have an impact on the future of NHS general practice as we know it and politicians from all parties should think carefully before taking us down this route."

Source
The British Medical Association

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