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Tobacco costs NHS £2.7bn

07/10/2008

The cost to the NHS of treating smoking-related illnesses in England has increased by £1 billion in nine years despite a drop in the number of smokers, new research reveals.

A report published by Cancer Research UK, in association with pressure group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), says the cost of treating diseases like lung cancer has soared to £2.7 billion since 1998, equivalent to £50 million every week.

The research will be presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference in Birmingham this week and is part of a ten year review of the 1998 Smoking Kills white paper.

The reports says the reason behind the continued rise is a combination of factors including more expensive treatments and better survival times for people with smoking-related diseases, as well as a better understanding of the range of diseases caused by smoking.

Researchers analysed the cost to the NHS of all smoking-related conditions including respiratory disorders, heart disease, cancer and circulatory conditions.

The report shows that tobacco plays a key role in many of the UK's main killer diseases. Smoking related illness accounts for a up to quarter of the cost of hospital care for adult respiratory disease and one third of the cost for circulatory diseases among adults aged between 35-64.

But researchers also said up to £380 million has been saved by the NHS as a result of public health strategies aimed at reducing the number of people who smoke.

The ban on tobacco advertising, mass media campaigns to encourage people to quit and the creation of stop smoking clinics are among the measures that have contributed to fewer people smoking, the report says.

The report also points to some successes saying there has been a six per cent drop in the number of people who smoke in the UK in the last ten years from around 28 per cent in 1998 to 22 per cent of the population now.

But tobacco is still recognised as the UK's single greatest cause of preventable illness and early death with over 100,000 people dying each year from smoking-related diseases.

Christine Callum, who led the research, said: "Cigarette smoking in England is responsible for one in six deaths of adults aged 35 and over. In addition to lives being cut short many smokers also experience years of mild to severely debilitating ill-health, the trauma of associated medical procedures and dependence on powerful medication.

"Whether in quality of life or financial impact on the NHS, the cost of smoking represents a price we should never have had to pay."

And Deborah Arnott, director of Ash, said while there had "tremendous success" in helping to reduce the number of the nation's smokers from 12 million nationally to nine million, there was much more to be done.

"From the evidence of the last ten years we know what works, and an ambitious new strategy could halve the number of smokers by 2015," she added.

Meanwhile, Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, called for tobacco products to be removed from sight at the point of sale and introduce plain packets - two policies the government is believed to be considering.

"These large economic figures shouldn't distract from the tragic human cost of smoking. The harsh reality is that half of all long-term smokers will die from this addiction so it's vital we continuing working to reduce the impact that tobacco has on the lives of so many people," she said.