Our new analysis shows cancers caused by smoking have reached an all time high at 160 per day 📈 We're calling on the new Government to re-introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill in the first King’s Speech on 17 July, to ensure that smoking has no place in our future. Dr Ian Walker, our executive director of policy, says: “Raising the age of sale of tobacco products will be one of the biggest public health interventions in living memory, establishing the UK as a world-leader. It’s vital that this Bill is re-introduced at the King’s Speech, passed and implemented in full, so the impact of smoking is consigned to the history books.” Read more below, including the reasons behind these figures, and why breast cancer has been included for the first time in this kind of analysis 👇 #CancerNews #SmokefreeUK #Smoking #SmokefreeUK
I'm unsurprised at the statistics. Many smokers only know about lung cancer as that's all the warnings on the packets have mentioned yet bladder, kidney, mouth and many others affected by smoking . I'm continually shocked at how many young people having taken up vaping then switch to smoking tobacco. It's not as if the risks aren't known as they've been publicised for the last 50 years. I see young mums smoking over their kids in pushchairs. The feeling of invincibility or 'everyone has to die of something' shows ignorance of its impact when the everyday act of breathing becomes difficult not to mention harm to others by secondhand smoke. Some places in the UK changed their approach from blaming smokers to offering support for nicotine addiction to reduce stigma to good effect. The tobacco companies continue to get off scott free! Our past approach hasn't worked well recently. A multi pronged approach is needed to smoking cessation and discourage it from being started especially by the young. The gateway into tobacco dependency is seen in many areas despite those who said it would never happen. I'm unsure what we're waiting for before action is taken.
The way smoking has no place in the near future is to ban it completely and replace it with only products that can help current users cope with the transition to quit. Incentives to help people should be backed by the UK government, raising awareness of all the risks not just lung cancer, easy access to Low cost NRT via GPs and smoking stop medications as well as additional support to those transitioning off or wanting to stop being it with CBT/ talking therapy or other therapies to hit the root cause for smoking. My grandfather died because of smoking at a time when information on its harmful impacts on human health had been unknown, once this information had been known he stopped however it was unfortunately too late. It's surprising to me given all the data we have with these types of products they are it's still being sold. Asbestos was fully banned in the UK in November 1999. The ban made it illegal to buy, sell, import or export any asbestos containing materials. Why can't the same be applied here?
Glen Clack
2w
Compare the cost to the UK of the obesity epidemic to those associated with smoking cigarettes; it would suggest, if choosing between one or the other (and we may not have the money to do both), that our time would be better spent addressing obesity. 2015: obesity-related ill health cost NHS £6.1 bn; estimated to cost the NHS around £9.7 bn a year by 2050 (Public Health England , 2017. Health matters: obesity and the food environment. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-obesity-and-the-food-environment/health-matters-obesity-and-the-food-environment--2). Cost soared from £58 bn in 2020 to £98 bn, according to the Tony Blair Institute. Cost to people affected rose from £45.2 bn to £63.1 bn a year, and costs to the NHS from £10.8bn to £19.2bn, according to modelling by the thinktank by Frontier Economics. Biggest proportional jump came in costs to society as a whole; risen more than 7-fold, from £2.1 bn to £15.6 bn, mainly from lost productivity as record 2.4 million people are now too sick to work, often as a result of being overweight or living with obesity.) Cost of smoking to the social care system. Action on Smoking and Health, March 2021 https://ash.org.uk/uploads/SocialCare.pdf: £14.07 bn annually
Sounds logical and useful. The higher the incidence of disease and risk for younger population, the worse it is for any country. But, just to be sure, I guess the subjects - all the 160 per day cases - in this analysis were all smokers, because air pollution is also a risk factor. Of course, those with dual exposure could be at a much higher risk, and probably deserve a similar investigation.
Jude Alao
2w
As a respiratory health researcher in New Zealand, I’m alarmed by the new data showing smoking-related cancers at an all-time high of 160 cases per day. We must support the re-introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. Raising the age of sale for tobacco products is a crucial step for reducing smoking rates and improving public health. Let’s back this essential policy for a healthier future!
Sasha M.
2w
perhaps also a total ban due to the harmful causal effects.
Teresa Young
1w
So many people that I know seem to be giving up smoking so this does surprise me a bit. I suppose the damage is already done. Do we have any information on vaping and the health risks? My husband gave up smoking 10 years ago and has only just stopped vaping.
Smoking is arguably one of the worst things that a human being can do to their body! It's an extremely harmful habit that must be stopped for the benefit of individuals and communities
Sumit B.
2w
Society permits Cigarettes - Alcohol - A certain profile of food ... ... .... and cancer results. The body needs serious abuse to go awol. We appear to accommodate.
Living with lung cancer. Patient advocate.
2wOne of the challenges with this stat is that it may be over or under reported. The reason is a personal bugbear of mine… data on cancer patients that feeds into these sorts of figures mostly comes from NHS England NDRS data sources, and the smoking status of cancer patients in NDRS is woefully under-reported. Currently only ~60% of records for cancer patients in NDRS include smoking status. The upstream impact of this is that statistics on, for example, smoking vs. non-smoking lung cancers have the possibility of being inaccurate.