Stopping smoking could lift 34,000 North-East households out of poverty, campaign claims

North-East anti-smoking taskforce Fresh has joined with Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) and other charities to launch Smoking Still Kills - a new five-year blueprint to tackle smoking.

One of the action plan's aims is to make the tobacco industry pay to help more adults stop smoking - and fewer children start.

Fresh says the move would save thousands of lives in the region over the next decade, move more families out of poverty, help the regional economy, and save the region's NHS and councils millions of pounds.

The launch comes as new Ash research reveals that more than 95,000 households in the North-East who live below the poverty line include an adult that smokes.

It is estimated that if they quit, at least 34,000 households would be lifted out of poverty.

Lisa Surtees, acting director of Fresh, said: "As this report makes clear we must go further and do more.

"Most smokers regret ever starting and do not want their own children to start. At a time when so many people are struggling, these figures show how thousands of North East families could feel better off by quitting smoking.

“More than ever it’s the poorest people in our society who take up smoking younger and are more likely to suffer from tobacco related diseases from middle age, and the North-East pays a heavy price, while the tobacco industry profits. It is morally right they should be forced to make a contribution to reducing the harm caused.”

In the March budget earlier this year the Chancellor committed the Government to continue the consultation on imposing a levy on tobacco companies.

According to a survey by Ash, North-East adults are strong supporters of Government action to reduce smoking, with 82 per cent agreeing that they like the thought of smoking becoming a thing of the past for future generations.

The Smoking Still Kills report calls for the smoking rate to be cut to five per cent by 2035.