Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden, has met with representatives from Cancer Research UK at the Conservative party Conference in Birmingham.
Smoking is still the biggest cause of cancer and death in the UK. It continues to pull our most disadvantaged communities further into poverty by costing them billions each year. Smoking also places a significant strain on our economy and our health system. In England alone, it is estimated that smoking costs the economy £17 billion per year, £2.4 billion of which falls to our NHS.
In England, Scotland and Wales, Governments have set out targets to reduce smoking rates, known as ‘smokefree’ targets - defined as less than 5% of the adult population smoking.
Nusrat was pleased to learn that the smoking rates for Wealden are very low and is most likely to hit the Government's smoking target of 5% or less.