Ireland on track to be tobacco-free by 2025

The Irish government has published the Tobacco Free Ireland Report 2019, which sets out proposals to reduce smoking rates to below 5% for the entire population. Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Frank Feighan, said the country is on the right track and it is possible for Ireland to achieve this target. [1].

As part of the Healthy Ireland Framework, a roadmap to build a healthier Ireland has been launched. The two key themes of the tobacco control policy are protecting young people and denormalising smoking. The report published on 23 November 2020 incorporates the provisions of the legislation: Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill and a number of key achievements of 2019[2] :

• The inclusion of a smoking question in the 2021 census to provide more detailed information on smoking prevalence across the country in order to target anti-smoking campaigns and cessation support to diverse smoking populations.
• The development of smoke-free campuses, including the launch of Sports Ireland's Smoke-Free Campus, banning smoking outside all campus buildings.
• Better enforcement of the ban on the sale of tobacco products in places or events intended for children.
• A reduction in advertising for nicotine products in places or events aimed at children.
• The increase in price through tax increases at the level of the minimum excise duty on tobacco products. In this regard, health stakeholders call on the government to adopt strong tax measures by increasing the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes to €20 by 2025 and are calling for higher taxation of electronic cigarettes in order to protect young people from nicotine addiction.[3].

In 2015, 23% of the total population of Ireland used tobacco products. The number of smokers has since decreased by an average of 1 to 2% each year to 17% of the population today.