Let’s make smoking history in Rochdale

Wendy Meston

Representatives from Rochdale Council joined health experts and community leaders from across the North West to hear personal, and often emotional, stories of how smoking impacts on people and how to reduce smoking rates in the region, at a special event at Manchester town hall last week.

Over 150 senior local authority and NHS representatives listenedto community members and exploredhow to reduce the social and economic costs of smoking through presentations, panel discussion and workshops by tobacco and healthcare experts.

A series of two and half minute micro-documentaries provided a backdrop to a wider discussion about how to reduce smoking rates in the region.

The event titled ‘Inequality and Child Poverty: Why we can’t afford to ignore tobacco’ was organised by Tobacco Free Futures, the North West office for tobacco control.

Wendy Meston, Acting Director of Public Health in Rochdale said: “Smoking is still Rochdale’s biggest killer. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, 60 of which we know cause cancer and quitting smoking is the single biggest avoidable thing you can do to improve your health.

“We need to work together to help smokers quit and do everything to put off children taking up the habit in the first place. The earlier a child or young person becomes a regular smoker, the greater their risk of developing life threatening conditions such as lung cancer or heart disease.

"Today is a great opportunity to meet, listen and identify the best way to tackle tobacco harm in Rochdale.”

Andrea Crossfield, chief executive of Tobacco Free Futures said: “It’s really important we understand the issues smokers face in Rochdale. Smoking is not only bad for your health, it is also bad for your pocket. A household with two regular smokers can spend over £5,000 a year on their habit – often hitting the poorest families the hardest.

“We want to work together with the widest range of partners, including communities themselves, to identify the best way to end this dependency on tobacco, so people become healthier and have more options for how they can spend their money.”

Representatives from across the region will use the information to inform plans on how to reduce smoking locally.