Priorities and Priority Groups – when smoking remains stubbornly high

The portrayal of nicotine as harmful and the focus on youth vaping has distracted us from what should still be our number one public health priority: stopping smoking. The Tobacco and Vapes Act introduces a generational ban on tobacco sales and puts the aim of making smoking history within our grasp. But as smoking prevalence continues to fall at a population level, it remains stubbornly high in priority groups, and this presents us with our biggest challenge: to make sure that nobody is left behind. This presentation will address these two distinct but related challenges.