06.06.14
UK tobacco control campaigner wins WHO award
Tobacco control campaigner Ailsa Rutter has been awarded a World Health Organisation (WHO) World No Tobacco Day medal in recognition of her work in tackling smoking in the north east.
She is the only person in the UK to win the award, and was interviewed by PSE just over a year ago.
Rutter, who set up Fresh – the first regional tobacco control office in the UK – in 2005, saw smoking rates in the north east fall at twice the national average during the first five years of the organisation’s work.
Fresh has also been highlighted in both the government's current National Tobacco Plan – ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People’ – and the previous government’s National Tobacco Strategy, ‘A Smokefree Future’.
The Association of North East Councils and chair of the North East Directors of Public Health network have praised Fresh and Rutter for the award and work across the region.
Anna Lynch, DPH for County Durham and chair of the North East Directors of Public Health Network, said: “I am absolutely delighted for Ailsa. This award is certainly well deserved and could not be given to a more passionate and committed person.”
Rutter added that when Fresh was set up in the north east the aim was to stop making headlines for being the worst area in the country for smoking related death and disease, and has done all it can to tackle the region’s biggest killer.
“This is a tremendous honour, but it’s also credit to my committed colleagues at Fresh and many partners we work with, particularly within our 12 local authorities who have demonstrated exceptional leadership for many years around tobacco issues,” she said.
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