Pregnant women may be offered shopping vouchers worth hundreds of pounds as an incentive for giving up cigarettes.
The financial motive is set to be incorporated in new guidance for the NHS, with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) calling the scheme “both effective and cost effective”.
Research has revealed that out of every 1,000 pregnant women offered vouchers in exchange for binning cigarettes, 177 would stop smoking.
The reward-based system – which would provide coupons up to the value of £400 – has already been tested in some regions, but NICE is looking at rolling it out nationwide.
Pregnant women could be offered up to £400 in vouchers as an incentive to quit smoking / Image: Pexels
Participants in the scheme will take biochemical tests so health professionals can check whether they have kept their word and quit smoking.
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However, if testing difficulties arise as a result of the pandemic, vouchers are likely to be awarded regardless.
Dr Paul Chrisp, director of NICE’s centre for guidelines, said: “These draft guideline recommendations are a renewed effort to reduce the health burden of smoking and to encourage and support people to give up smoking.
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“Smoking continues to take a huge toll on the health of the nation and accounts for approximately half the difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest in society. It is therefore vitally important that we reduce the level of smoking in this country.
“We know that around 10% of women are known to be smokers at the time of giving birth and, given the significant health effects of smoking on both mothers and babies, it is clear that further efforts are required to encourage this group to give up smoking.”
New draft guidance from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) published today to help reduce the health burden of smoking and to encourage and support people to give up smoking
Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, senior research fellow in health behaviours at the University of Oxford, said the reward-based guidance was a good move.
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Hartmann-Boyce stated: “Evidence supports providing vouchers to help pregnant people quit smoking, and it is great to see this in the new draft guidance.
“Studies of this type of programme show that people remained smoke-free even after the vouchers or other types of rewards finished.
“Evidence shows these programmes also work outside of pregnancy. It would be positive to see them used across a range of contexts.”
Local authorities in England are also taking action to cut down on smoking – with Manchester becoming one of the first councils to ban smoking on pavements outside pubs, cafes and restaurants.
Featured image: Pexels
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Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
The Manc -
25th June 2021 
