Tobacco Control Northern Ireland

Cigarettes are the only legal product which, when used as intended, will kill half of its users. Furthermore, smoking has been identified as the single greatest cause of preventable illness and premature death in Northern Ireland with one in every six deaths in Northern Ireland being attributable to smoking.

These and other key facts about tobacco, e-cigarettes and the tobacco industry are summarised in a new tobacco briefing paper ‘Tobacco Control Northern Ireland’.

Tobacco remains a key public health issue in society with over a fifth of the NI population still smoking. Moreover, the health effects and financial costs of smoking to the individual and to society as a whole are immense.

The impact of tobacco is greatest among the poorest in our society impacting on their income, health and the health and social norms their children are inadvertently exposed to, thereby comprehensive tobacco control policies are a necessity.

This briefing has been produced by Health Intelligence in the Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland, for use by PHA staff, its partner organisations and those interested in tobacco control.