Fifty years since the Royal College Report: more action needed to achieve the “Smokefree New Zealand by 2025” goal

Extract

Fifty years ago (on 7 March 1962), a committee of the United Kingdom’s Royal College of Physicians issued a major report on smoking and health.1 It provided strong evidence that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer and bronchitis, and argued that it probably also contributed to cardiovascular disease. The Royal College Report (and subsequent follow-up reports in 1971, 1977 and 1983) also set out a range of measures needed to reduce smoking prevalence. These included health education campaigns, banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship, increasing cigarette taxation, providing smoking cessation support, restricting sales to children and reducing smoking in public places.

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Citation: Wilson, N., Hoek, J., Thomson, G., Blakely, T., & Edwards, R. (2012) Fifty years since the Royal College Report: more action needed to achieve the “Smokefree New Zealand by 2025” goal [letter]. New Zealand Medical Journal, 125(1351), 109-112.
(Published 9 March 2012)