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The Scottish Government have introduced many policies to improve the health of the people of Scotland to reduce health inequalities.

One of the key priorities of Scottish governments has been to tackle health inequalities.

Health policies in Scotland to tackle smoking

Selected Scottish Government policies to tackle smoking include:

• a ban on smoking in enclosed public places, near hospitals, in vehicles with children
• the introduction of plain packaging on cigarettes
• a ban on cigarette displays and sales of cigarettes from vending machines
• the Scottish Government's Tobacco Action Plan which looks to increase services to help people stop smoking and launch a campaign to deter young people from vaping
• additional incentives to encourage women not to smoke during pregnancy (eg participation in UK-wide high street shopping voucher scheme)

The Scottish Government has stated its aim to create a tobacco free generation by 2034.

How effective are Scottish policies to tackle smoking?

In 2021, smoking was responsible for an estimated 8,260 deaths (250 deaths per 100,000) in people aged 35 and over in Scotland. However, smoking rates have declined steadily over the past 20 years.

For men in Scotland in 2021, 12% identified as smokers which compares favourably to other European countries.

For women the figure was 11% which was less favourable compared to other countries.

Health policies in Scotland to tackle alcohol and drug misuse

The Scottish Government has introduced measure to tackle alcohol and drug misuse and their impact on health:

• minimum unit pricing for alcohol (rate 50p 2023) was introduced to increase alcohol prices and thereby reduce consumption
• legislation introduced to restrict multibuy alcohol/irresponsible alcohol sales
• a National Mission Plan to reduce drug deaths and develop drug treatment and recovery services

In September 2023, the UK’s first drug consumption room was approved in Glasgow. The pilot scheme, which aims to help reduce drug addiction and drug deaths, allows drug misusers take their own drugs but under supervision and with support in hygienic surroundings in a health centre.

How effective are Scottish policies on alcohol and drug misuse?

Alcohol consumption, like cigarette smoking, has been declining in Scotland for around 20 years.

The percentage of people drinking to harmful levels of alcohol stood at around 23% in 2021, compared to 34% in 2023. However, there were 1,276 alcohol-specific deaths in 2022 - an increase of 2% compared to 2021.

There were also 35,187 alcohol-related hospital admissions in Scotland in 2021/22.

In 2022, 1,051 people died due to drug misuse in Scotland. However, this was a reduction of 279 deaths, compared to 2021 and the lowest drug death misuse total since 2017.

Scottish Government policies to improve diet and exercise

In 2018 the Scottish Government published its plan (A Healthier Future) to ensure people in Scotland eat well and maintain a healthy weight.

The government continues to promote the importance of physical activities and sport, including encouraging walking and cycling, investing in sporting programmes, two hours quality PE in schools, etc. (Source: Scottish Government)

How effective are Scottish Government policies on diet and exercise?

There is evidence that adults in Scotland are becoming more active.

In 2021, the Scottish Health Survey found that 69% of adults met the recommendations for moderate or vigorous physical activity guidelines. This was up from around 62% in 2012.

For children aged 5-15, the figure for physical activity guidelines in 2021 was 71%, although boys were more likely than girls to meet the physical activity guidelines. This figure was in line with statistics from 2019. (Source: Scottish Government)

UK governments have also introduced policies to improve health, but most legislation in this area is for England only as health is a devolved mater. However, there has been criticism of the UK Government's decision not to press ahead with restrictions on multi-buy sales of junk food (fast food) and pre-watershed advertising of fast food in May 2022.

Prescriptions

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have policies of free prescriptions but each prescription in England costs £9.65 per item (2023). There is an extensive list of exceptions and discounts with charges in England, resulting in 90% of prescriptions being handed out for free.