Tobacco plan aims to produce England’s first smoke-free generation

The government’s new tobacco control plan for England sets out a vision of the first smoke-free generation, with a target to reduce the number of 15 year olds who regularly smoke from 8% to 3% or less by the end of 2025.1

The previous tobacco strategy for England expired at the end of 2015, and pressure has been growing for the government to renew its commitment to tackling smoking. In January The BMJ published a letter from more than 1000 doctors and other healthcare workers urging the government to publish a new tobacco control plan to tackle inequalities in health.23

The new tobacco control plan points out that 7.3 million adults in England …