Almost a quarter of Derry’s population are still smoking despite ongoing attempts by both the local council and health boards to reduce the number of deaths due to cancer here.
The figure emerged at a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Health and Community committee, during a discussion on Tobacco Control enforcement.
The report showed that in the local council area, 23.3 per cent of people still smoked, which is 34,717 people out of a population of 149,000.
The figure is second only to Belfast, where 25.1 per cent of the population are smokers.
The Derry and Strabane council figure is also above the average for Northern Ireland, 22 per cent, which is equivalent to 320,000 adults aged 16 and over, still smoking.
At the meeting, elected members gave approval for a Tobacco Control Officer to continue working in the local council area for another year.
The position is funded by the Public Health Agency (PHA), with the officer having the responsibility for enforcing tobacco legislation, including the issuing of fixed penalty notices for contraventions of the smoke free legislation and prosecution.
The officer also oversees ‘test purchasing’ exercises to identify contraventions of legislation relating to the sale of tobacco products to children.
The ‘test purchase’ involves a person under the age of 16 attempting to buy cigarettes from a store.
If they successfully purchase the cigarettes, the owner will face a fine or be prosecuted in court.
The report showed that over an eight month period ending on December 31 last, the council’s Tobacco Control department carried out 534 inspections of premises to ensure they complied with smoke free legislation.
The officer also oversaw 24 ‘test purchases’ over the same period.
However, only three fines were issued over the eight month period in question for breaches of smoking legislation.
The report also outlined that of the ‘financial burden’ to smokers as a result of their habit, stating that a 20-a-day smoker would spend on average, over £3,000 a year on cigarettes.
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