AS IT HAS been noticed over the past few years, smoking is one of the most significant health issues that is faced by Scotland, and it is also a leading cause of premature death, disability, and different types of chronic illnesses in people these days.
For this very reason, Scotland had to come up with different strategies to cope with the issue and ensure the health of its citizens so that the country can grow, and help to develop a proper plan in order to improve services and tackle the current tobacco plan.
According to research made by the health department of Scotland, the highest rate of smoking is mostly recorded in the deprived areas that have a population of around 35 percent of the entire country and calculates to a majority.
So, this means that if you are also a citizen of this place and do not exactly know what the plans are through which the country is combating these serious issues, here are some of the many things that are part of the plan.
Raising Awareness to Empower
Nothing can inspire people more than their fellow human beings, as word of mouth certainly has more power than long textual memos. For this very reason, one of the first and foremost things that are part of the plan is by raising awareness about the severity of the issue.
For this, several people have come up with different types of anti-smoking campaigns and awareness banners to let people understand how smoking can cause harm to their health without them even noticing and how injurious it can turn out to be.
Similarly, part of the awareness is holding debates and issuing different health journals to empower more people to get rid of this dangerous habit and help them to lead a healthy lifestyle where there is no space for smoking tobacco.
Introducing Less Harmful Alternatives
Another great way to get rid of smoking is by introducing less harmful alternatives that can help people to quit smoking and take a step further to improve their health and well-being, and be more thoughtful about others too.
This certainly turns out to be very beneficial, especially for those who find it really hard to quit smoking at once or have been smoking for a long time. This can aid them in taking baby steps and taking things slow to get better outcomes.
Smoking alternatives like vaping as we know it today are turning out to be quite popular among many people as it lets them enjoy different unique flavors without having to ruin their health and spend a lot of money on cigarettes.
Increasing Prices and Decreasing Availability
While it is a great idea to let people understand the serious health concerns they might have due to smoking, another one of the great techniques that Scotland has come up with is increasing the prices of cigarettes or tobacco.
In addition to that, the availability of such products has also been reduced to make sure people find it hard to buy these products and eventually give up on the habit. This turns out to be a very subtle ninja technique that automatically encourages people to quit without them even realizing it.
By increasing more taxes on tobacco or cigarettes the authority has certainly made a strong and very wise move to help its people enhance their well-being and get rid of excess air pollution that is produced due to smoking.
Preventing Relapses to Happen
Among many other things, one thing that has certainly played a vital role in enhancing the impact of the strategy is by preventing more and more people from relapsing to their old routine and switching again to smoking.
For this, the smoking control experts have introduced different types of groups as well as one-on-one therapies that help people to make the right decision whenever they feel the cravings for a smoke and help them understand the factors that trigger this habit to minimize them.
With this, it was found that a great number of the population was encouraged to reduce their smoking habits and make their life better. This means that this strategy helped to improve the outcomes and reduce any kind of health inequalities among people.
