�The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued fresh public health guidance on mass-media and point-of-sales measures to keep the uptake of smoking by children and young people.
Delaying or preventing the ingestion of smoking can own a major effect on both brusque and long term health. Most adult smokers started smoking earlier they were 18 long time old. Children and whitney Young people world Health Organization smoke ar two to six times more susceptible to coughs, increased stolidity and wheezing than their non-smoking peers. Smoking hindquarters also impair the growth of their lungs and is a cause of asthma-related symptoms in childhood and adolescence.
This guidance is aimed at those who make a responsibility or a role in improving wellness and upbeat of children and brigham Young people under 18. This includes those working in the NHS, local government, voluntary and community sectors, as well as the private sector, in particular the retail industry and mass-media services.
Mass media Recommendations are aimed at organisers and planners of national, regional and local mass-media campaigns, as well as local and regional commissioners and planners responsible for improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people under 18. The recommendations include:
- the development of national, regional or local mass media campaigns which ar developed in partnership with national, regional and local government and nongovernmental organisations, the NHS, children and young people, media professionals, healthcare professionals, public dealings agencies and local anti-tobacco activists.
- Use a range of strategies as part of any movement to subdue the attractiveness of baccy. This may include writing articles, producing posters, brochures and early materials to promote the campaign
- Convey well researched messages that:
-- elicit a strong, negatively charged emotional reaction while providing sources of further info and reinforcement
-- use personal testimonials that children and brigham Young people canful relate to
-- endow children and young people to decline offers of cigarettes
Point of sales - National government should bread and butter enforcement of existing statute law by:
-- encouraging national organisations and local government to provide education and training programmes for trading standards officers
-- encouraging and providing all local authorities with support to enforce legislation and guarantee regular audits
- Local authorities and trading standards bodies should ensure retailers are aware of lawmaking prohibiting underage tobacco gross sales and providing training and guidance on how to avoid illegal sales.
Andrew Dillon, NICE Chief Executive and Executive Lead for the guideline said: "Smoking is still the master cause of preventable disease and premature death in England and treating smoking-related diseases costs the NHS an estimated �1.5 billion a year. We have already published trey sets of public health guidance on smoking surcease, but our remit in this case was to look at how to approach children and cy Young people specifically. These recommendations have been developed to complement existing activities, with the aim of load-bearing a comprehensive tobacco control strategy."
Professor Catherine Law, Chair of the Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee (PHIAC) at NICE and Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology, UCL Institute of Child Health aforementioned: "Mass media campaigns are an effective approach in delaying uptake of smoking amongst children and young people. This delay hindquarters have a major gist on long term health. Children wHO smoke become addicted to nicotine very quickly and research shows the in the beginning you start up smoking
the harder it is to give up in later life. If starting is delayed or prevented at that place is the potential to reduce the number of early deaths attributed to smoking and improve health throughout life."
Professor Simon Capewell, PHIAC member at NICE and Chair of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Liverpool aforesaid: "We know that around two-thirds of people wHO have smoked took up the habit before the age of 18 and because the risk of disease is related to the length of time a person has smoke-cured, they face an even greater-than-average risk of development lung cancer the Crab or mettle disease. The recommendations on mass media campaigns in this steering will help children and young people understand the health consequences of smoke and documentation them in refusing cigarettes."
Mr Dale Robinson, PHIAC member at NICE and Corporate Manager - Health & Environmental Services at South Cambridgeshire District Council said: "As well as looking at mass media interventions, this guidance also makes particular recommendations for places that young citizenry buy cigarettes. These recommendations include the national government activity working with agencies to ensure that retailers, including publicans, ar aware of legislation on under-age tobacco plant sales, including the fact that it covers peddling machines. The guidance too advises local agencies to work together to identify areas where under-age baccy sales are a particular problem and then offer practical advice to retailers on how to avoid selling cigarettes to children."
Notes The mass-media and point-of-sales measures to prevent the uptake of smoking by children and young people guidance is usable at: http://www.nice.org.uk/PH014
Children and young mass refer to those under the eld of 18.
Mass-media interventions use a range of methods to communicate a message. This can include local, regional or national television, radio and newspapers, and leaflets and booklets. It tin also include new media. In this document, 'new media' refers to communication via the Internet or mobile telephone set. On the Internet, it can involve anything from real-time streaming of info and podcasts, to discussions with experts and the use of social networking sites. (An example of real-time streaming of information is the 'breaking news' text that appears along the bottom of the screen during some TV news programmes.) The draw a bead on of mass-media interventions is to reach large numbers of citizenry without organism reliant on face-to-face contact.
Point-of-sales interventions take place at the point where tobacco could be sold. Primarily, they aim to deter shopkeepers from making illegal gross sales.
Related NICE public health guidance includes:
- Smoking cessation services in chief care, pharmacies, local authorities and workplaces, particularly for manual Clinical Excellence
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