22 Jul 2010
Web Chat with Andrew Lansley
Andrew Lansley has been having a chat with the public over on the Downing Street website this morning.
One of the questions put to him was:
Will the Govt put public health at the heart of plans & implement vital tobacco control legislation to protect children?
To which the Secretary of State says:
We need a more effective public health strategy too many things have been heading in the wrong direction, including obesity, alcohol and drug misuse and sexually transmitted infections. As we interfere less in the NHS day by day I want us to be a Government that focuses more on improving our health and wellbeing depends on working across society. Smoking is still the biggest preventable cause of early deaths. We have had important legislation to ban smoking in public places, further controls especially on under-age tobacco sales. Although smoking has declined from about more than half the population smoking 40 years ago to between a quarter and a fifth now it is stubborning persistent now. I think we have got to look to new approaches for public health that are not just about supply but are also about demand. So we need to change people's relationship with tobacco or drugs or alcohol so that they don't need or become dependent on these. Where people see that the majority of people don't like to be exposed to tobacco smoke, where those who do smoke understand that it is expensive and harmful, our public health strategy to be published later this year will look at how we can increase the effectiveness of tackling these health challenges much more effectively in the future.
Unfortunately my question, asking if the public health budgets include provision for drug prevention work, came too late and Mr Lansley had signed off.
Photo from Flickr user Adrian Midgley.
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About this blog
This blog tries to pick up relevant media and research stories about drug education. It mainly focuses on information in England as this is the geographical remit for the Drug Education Forum. We welcome comments that are on topic.Categories
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