The Welsh Government has revealed plans to create a ‘smoke-free’ Wales by the end of the decade.

Currently, around 14% of the population are smokers – but the Welsh Government wants this figure to drop to below 5% by 2030.

To achieve this, the Welsh Government has launched its ‘A Smoke-Free Wales’ strategy. A consultation into the new strategy opened on November 8 and will close on January 31.

Earlier this year, a new law making it illegal to smoke on hospital grounds came into force in Wales.

The law also makes it illegal to smoke on school grounds, public playgrounds and outdoor areas of day care and child minding settings.

On March 1 next year, smoking in bedrooms in hotels and guest houses will be banned across Wales, while smoking in self-contained holiday accommodation, such as cottages, caravans and AirBnBs, will also be banned.

Launching the A Smoke-Free Wales strategy, the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Lynne Neagle MS, said: “Our ambition is make Wales smoke-free and to support people to make choices to improve their health and wellbeing.”

Ms Neagle said Wales has “led the way” with its recent smoking bans but said the anti-smoking message needed to be strengthened further.

She added: “Smoking remains the leading cause of premature death here in Wales and a major contributor to health inequalities.

“Whilst we have made progress in recent years in reducing the number of people smoking, we want to go further and be ambitious to create a Wales where smoking is far from the norm.”

The new strategy will look at how additional support can be given to help more people quit smoking through the NHS’ Help Me Quit service.

Publicly-funded bodies will also be asked to become smoke-free and to support their workforce with advice and support to quit smoking.

The Welsh Government has said there are strong links between smoking and deprivation, with people living in more deprived areas more likely to smoke. Meanwhile, people with mental health illnesses are around twice as likely to smoke as others who do not suffer from mental health illnesses.

Dr Frank Atherton, the Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said: “Smoking is extremely damaging to health. In 2018, around 5,600 deaths in people aged 35 and over and 28,000 admissions to hospital were attributable to smoking.

“We need to work together as a society, including government, health professionals and communities to ensure we are doing all we can to tackle smoking and reduce the ill health smoking causes.”