The £18m going up in smoke

RALPH BLACKBURN AND JON MACPHERSON

SMOKING costs Hyndburn more than £18 million a year through NHS costs, sick days and even smoking breaks, new figures reveal.

Around 12,000 adult smokers live in the borough (22 per cent) which is higher than the England average of 16pc.

Figures produced by charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) estimates that smoking costs Hyndburn’s economy £11 million a year due to lost working days.

Smoking-related hospital admissions and ill-health treatment costs the NHS a further £4 million while the impact on social care for public and private providers is £3 million.

Hyndburn councillor Munsif Dad, portfolio holder for health and com- munities, said he is ‘very surprised’ by the figures and that more work is needed to tackle smoking in the borough.

He said: “The risks were raised a number of years ago and that’s had some impact but there’s still a long way to go.

“The cost of cigarettes is getting higher but people still smoke. It’s very difficult for people who have been smoking for a number of years to quit but there is support there for those who have the will power. It costs the local economy millions and millions of pounds. It’s a lot of money for an economy which is struggling at the moment.”

According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, smokers suffer on average 2.74 additional sick days a year compared with non-smoker.

Deborah Arnott, Ash chief executive, said the ‘significant financial impact’ shows that local authorities need to invest in measures to discourage young people from taking up smoking and motivate adult smokers to quit.

However she warned that cuts to public health budgets mean that many local authorities ‘no longer have the resources they need’ and is creating a ‘false economy that is damaging our local communities’.

Around half of the money spent on cigarettes goes to the Government from tobacco tax. The British Heart Foundation said a levy on tobacco companies would ‘ensure there is sustained funding for tobacco control’.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said they have already taken ‘bold action’ including introducing standardised packaging, covering up tobacco products in shops and making it illegal to smoke in a car with a child.