The Department of Health & Social Care are seeking views on adding pack inserts into tobacco products to encourage more smokers to quit, as it launches a new consultation. The inserts, placed inside the packaging of cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco, can provide information about the health and financial benefits of quitting, which includes a 50% reduction in the risk of a heart attack within a year, an improvement in breathing in a matter of days, with the average smoker likely to save over £2000 per year if they quit, as well as advice on how to quit. Smoking remains the single leading preventable cause of illness and mortality in the UK and results in nearly 4% of all hospital admissions each year – a total of around 450,000 admissions, directly costing the NHS over £2 billion per year. Although smoking rates in the UK are at an all-time low, by taking further action, the Government will seek to cut waiting lists and reduce the burden on the NHS and the introduction of the pack inserts into all tobacco products in the UK could lead to an additional 30,000 smokers quitting, delivering health benefits worth £1.6 billion. You can have your say in the consultation, here: https://tinyurl.com/2s376236.