Smoking is still the number one threat to health in Scotland
Smoking remains the biggest threat to Scotland’s health, according to Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Mac Armstrong.
In his annual report for 2003, Dr Armstrong sets out the current health
issues in Scotland and what is being done to tackle them. “Smoking
is the single biggest cause of preventable premature death and ill-health
in Scotland,” he says. It is a particular problem in Glasgow, where
37 per cent of the population smoke.
Community pharmacists in Glasgow have responded to this by becoming involved
in a pharmacy-led smoking cessation project called “Starting fresh” and
Dr Armstrong highlights its success. Over 100 pharmacists have been trained
to take part in the service to which smokers are either referred by a
health professional or can self-refer. Smokers can obtain nicotine replacement
therapy and smoking cessation support. “In the first six months
of 2003, almost 1,000 smokers accessed the services and early indicators
are that the service has a higher than anticipated success rate,” he
comments.
In another approach to tackling smoking-related illness, the CMO says
that a consultation on smoking in public places and passive smoking will
begin later this year. However, smoking is not the only cause of ill-health.
Dr Armstrong also highlights poor diet, lack of physical activity and
alcohol misuse to be contributory factors to disease rates in Scotland. |
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