Who or What is Smoking Concerns?

In 1983, Greater Glasgow Health Board, Glasgow District Council, Strathclyde Regional Council and the Scottish Health Education Board (formerly Health Education Board for Scotland now NHS Health Scotland) joined forces to tackle the city’s high smoking rates and areas polluted by unrestricted smoking. This resulted in the setting up of “Glasgow 2000”

In the 20 years since Glasgow 2000 was set up, there have been many milestones on the road to a smoke free Glasgow.

Glasgow’s transport network is now “smoke free”, all the city’s hospitals are smoke free zones, nights out are more pleasant with all of the city’s cinema’s and theatres being smoke free, and 3/4 of Glasgow City workplaces are smoke-free.

Many of the city’s restaurants, taxis and hotels offer smoke-free facilities.

Glasgow 2000 made a huge difference to the health of the city, and improved the environment.

However much work remained to be done and with the year 2000 looming closer, the decision was taken to update the name of the project, and so 'Smoking Concerns' was born.

Smoking Concerns continued with the work of Glasgow 2000 and developed the service even further.

Presently Smoking Concerns carries out work in many areas: prevention work with young people through curricular linked materials, Smoke Free Me & Smoke Free Class; community health projects; policy and strategy work in partnership with the Glasgow Alliance; co-ordination of cessation services in primary care trusts across Glasgow, including stop smoking groups in every area of Glasgow; training of health professionals and lay workers to deliver smoking cessation interventions; delivering smoking cessation services for pregnant women and for inpatients in all 5 acute hospitals, developing services in Mental health settings; work with the media to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco use, and linking with community pharmacists who deliver brief 1-to-1 smoking cessation counselling in combination with Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT).