Newcastle University Professor Sir John Burn from the Institute of Genetic Medicine
Newcastle University Professor Sir John Burn from the Institute of Genetic Medicine
A leading Tyneside academic "started smoking before I started school".
Professor Sir John Burn, a leading geneticist who has led decades of cancer research and who has survived cancer himself, has spoken about his own addiction, which saw him smoking twenty cigarettes a day when he was 17. He has long stopped smoking now, but has welcomed new figures from Cancer Research UK showing how smoking rates in the North East have fallen faster than in the rest of the country.
The research, carried out at University College London, shows how smoking rates in the North East have fallen from 27.4% to 16% between 2006 and 2024. That fall is far faster than in other areas - such as the South which has seen rates fall from 22.7% to 17.3%.
The work of tobacco control campaign Fresh has been cited as among the reasons for the fall. Fresh, was set up in 2005 to tackle what was then the worst rate of smoking-related illness and death in England.
Sir John - a professor of clinical genetics at Newcastle University and former chair of the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust - grew up in West Auckland, and started smoking very young indeed. He said: "I grew up in West Auckland, County Durham, a former pit village and began smoking before I started school. By the age of 17 I was smoking up to 20 cigarettes a day.
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"I now spend my time researching cancer prevention. I escaped my nicotine dependency at 38 and my smoking cancer risk has fallen dramatically, but my lungs still bear the scars of those decades of smoking tobacco, and I am now part of the NHS lung cancer screening programme. That’s a health risk that will stay with me forever.
"Stopping smoking is the single most important thing you can do to improve your health, and there's help available if you're trying to quit. Speaking from experience, it’s never too late."
Sir John, who has survived prostate cancer, added: "Smoking rates here in the North East were once the worst in England, and although the Fresh campaign helped to make us one of the fastest regions cutting smoking, we need to keep up the pressure. There's much more that needs to be done, and local stop smoking services are a vital investment. The UK Government can't be complacent in the fight against tobacco."
The UCL study saw data from more than 360,000 adults considered over the best part of two decades. It found that smoking rates fell most in areas where they had been highest, seeing the gap between the worst and best regions fall. However, tobacco is still the leading killer in the UK – responsible for around 160 new cancer cases every day, Cancer Research UK said.
Professor Sir John Burn in his younger days (Image: Cancer Research UK)
Ailsa Rutter, director of Fresh said: “Smoking is still our biggest killer and driver of health inequalities. For the North East to have make progress in reducing these is a massive credit to local authorities and our NHS for prioritising prevention and an ongoing focus on tobacco control. Historically the North has collaborated well and the commitment over 20 years in the North East to keep a dedicated regional tobacco control programme has paid off.
“A smokefree future will pay dividends for health and have positive impact on our local communities and NHS wards. There is no room for complacency now and the next decade will be crucial if we are to ensure that we can achieve a future free of the death and disease of tobacco, no matter where people live. Ending smoking for all will have a momentous impact on the future health and economy of the country."
Cancer Research UK’s executive director of policy and information, Dr Ian Walker, said: A future free from the harms of tobacco is in sight, but we can’t afford to lose any momentum. Budget pressures and changes to NHS England can't compromise funding for programmes that help people quit – tackling smoking must be a key priority as our health services evolve"
The charity figure backed the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which he said was a "crucial opportunity" for the Government to protect society.
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