The RCP’s Tobacco Advisory Group (TAG) advises the RCP on tobacco control-related policy and activity, with the aim of preventing death and disability from tobacco use.
The RCP produced its first report on tobacco Smoking and health in 1962, launching six decades of action on tobacco control. At that time around 70% of men and 40% of women smoked.
In 1971, the RCP established Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) as a separate body to inform and educate the public about the dangers of smoking and to campaign on issues of tobacco control. Since then, ASH has been the focus for tobacco campaigning in the UK and has brought together a wide-range of UK organisations to effectively campaign on many aspects of tobacco control.
In 1997 the RCP’s Tobacco Advisory Group (TAG) was established to re-activate its tobacco campaigning role. The TAG has produced several reports on tobacco and smoking, providing much of the evidence base for successful wider alliance campaigns. Subsequent changes to UK legislation have resulted in reductions in death and disease from tobacco, and the protection of millions of people from tobacco smoke.
Key reports include 2005’s Going smoke-free – the medical case for clean air in the home, at work and in public places, which provided the evidence base for the UK ban on smoking in public places. And in 2016, Nicotine without smoke: the case for tobacco harm reduction made the case for the use of non-tobacco nicotine products as a substitute for smoking. Hiding in plain sight focused on the health and financial costs of smoking to health and the NHS. Smoking and health 2021 reviewed the UK’s progress in reducing smoking prevalence and was followed by the most recent report published in 2024, focusing on e-cigarettes and harm reduction.
The RCP continues to be an active member of the current alliance – the Smokefree Action Coalition. Over 60 years after the Smoking and health report, only around 12% of adults in the UK population smoke – a powerful testament to the globally recognised success of the work of the RCP and of the UK’s tobacco alliances.