Britain’s largest anti-smoking organisation, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), has announced that its president and director, Deborah Arnott, will retire at the end of September this year after serving the organisation for 21 years since 2003.
Deborah Arnott succeeded Clive Bates in 2003 as leader of an organisation that played a key role in the fragmentation of smoking and the disruption of the tobacco industry internationally after its influence within Britain. “I am proud to be leaving ASH at a good time and in safe hands, well on the way to delivery of our mission to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco. Our values, the strength of our team, the quality of ASH advocacy and networking, and our reputation and influence all stand us in good stead for the future. Whoever takes over from me is inheriting the leadership of an outstanding organisation”, she said.
“Deborah Arnott has been with ASH for 21 years and has developed and led ASH and the Smokefree Action Coalition which ASH coordinates, to substantial campaign successes including legislation prohibiting smoking in public places, putting tobacco out of sight in shops, and plain standardised tobacco packs” according to a press release from the largest anti-smoking organization. Arnott will leave ASH on the 30th of September 2024 and the Board of Directors has already proclaimed the position for her successor.
Professor Nick Hopkinson, chair of trustees at ASH said “I want to thank Deborah for her passion and determination over the last twenty one years. While everyone at ASH will be sad to see Deborah go, she leaves ASH in a robust position, with sound finances and a talented staff team. The next chief executive will inherit a highly-motivated group of colleagues and supporters. Now is an exciting time for tobacco control, with government commitments to a smokefree future and raising the age of sale to create a smokefree generation overwhelmingly supported by the public and parliament”.
Despite the above statement, a recent poll conducted from 24 to 25 January 2024 by a sample of 2000 respondents proved the opposite of these claims. The poll retorted that 64 percent opposed an annual increase in the minimum age for tobacco purchase that would place increasingly older people with children and minors without their recognized right to purchase tobacco, while 26 percent supported the restriction and 10 percent were undecided.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Deborah Arnott’s highly effective leadership of ASH over the past two decades has helped pave the way for the world-leading progress made in reducing the burden of tobacco – the biggest preventable cause of cancer and death in the UK. Deborah’s impact extends worldwide. She has been a key figure in the global tobacco control community, helping to secure stricter tobacco control measures around the world, which prevent cancer cases and save lives.”
The chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, Dr. Charmaine Griffiths said: “For two decades, Deborah has been the inspirational and tireless leader of an incredibly effective public health organisation. The dramatic reduction in tobacco smoking over that period, and the many lives saved, would not have happened without the landmark policies relentlessly driven by Deborah and her team at Action on Smoking and Health. For this, the BHF and wider cardiovascular community owe her their most heartfelt gratitude.”
Bring Back Smoking Freedom 