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Stirling

Helping to halt the tobacco epidemic

Smoking is the biggest single cause of cancer in the world. In the UK, over 33,000 people die from lung cancer every year. Work at the Cancer Research UK Centre for Tobacco Control Research at the University of Stirling, directed by Professor Gerard Hastings, is aimed at preventing the harm smoking causes.

Researchers at the Centre examine the tobacco industry’s marketing activities. On the basis of this understanding, they try to determine the most effective ways to counter these activities.

They are monitoring the effects of the 2002 UK Tobacco Advertising Ban on teenagers attitudes, beliefs and behaviours towards smoking. They are also tracking how the ban has affected tobacco companies’ marketing strategies.

Researchers at the Centre are also collaborating in a large three-year international study involving the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. It aims to assess the effect of various tobacco control initiatives, such as education, policy legislation and cigarette taxation, on smokers’ attitudes and behaviours toward smoking.

We know almost nothing about how and why tobacco policies work or don’t work, so this information is essential for guiding tobacco control efforts.

Professor Hasting's team will also examine the effect of smokefree legislation on people’s attitudes and behaviours towards smoking.

Find more of our research in Scotland.