WIREDGOV

Higher tobacco duty and measures to speed up the approval process for clinical trials were both good news for our nation’s heart health in this week's budget.

The Coalition Government announced a two per cent rise in tax on tobacco in real terms, and the establishment of a new agency to streamline regulation around medical research.

British Heart Foundation chief executive, Peter Hollins, said: “A two per cent rise on tobacco duty makes smoking a little less affordable and will help reduce the number of people who smoke – a habit that still kills more than 100,000 people in the UK each year.

“This together with a further 10 per cent rise on hand-rolled tobacco, which has been increasingly used by smokers as a cheaper alternative to cigarettes, is a welcome step forward.

“Reducing the amount of time to approve clinical trials is great news for heart patients. In recent years increasingly burdensome regulation of clinical research has slowed down progress in the UK. This means patients are currently being denied improvements in treatment and young doctors can lose interest in undertaking life-saving research.

“A faster process means new treatments will reach patients more quickly. But it’s vital the recommendations from the recent Academy of Medical Sciences are implemented in full if we are to achieve this.”