UK smoking ban would have many benefits for public health – but only if it’s effectively implemented

MPs have recently voted to ban anyone in England born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, as part of the government’s plan to achieve a smoke-free generation.

Smoking is the single most important preventable cause of ill health and death globally. In England alone, around 64,000 people in England die each year from a smoking-related disease such as lung cancer, stroke and heart attacks.

There’s also the economic impact of smoking.