City’s deadly smoking figures

FIGURES REVEAL 423 DEATHS ATTRIBUTED TO HABIT

Sunderland has the fifthhighest death rate due to smoking of 24 major towns and cites across England, according to new figures.

NHS Digital’s latest research Statistics on Smoking: England (2017), covers the period 2013-15 and relates to deaths among people aged over 35.

Sunderland had 423 deaths attributable to smoking per 100,000 people.

The new figures show there were an estimated 79,100 deaths caused by smoking nationwide in the period covered, of which about 54% were cancercaused (lung, cervical, bladder cancer and more).

Smoking can cause a number of health problems in the same patient and the research shows respiratory illness was involved in 47% of deaths and circulatory illness was a factor in 13%.

The research shows that Manchester had the highest number of deaths attributed to smoking out of all the major towns and cities selected for the research, at 509 per 100,000 head of population.

Middlesbrough and Newcastle, with rates of 422 and 304 deaths per 100,000 re- spectively, were also in the top 10.

Bournemouth had the lowest number of deaths attributed to smoking at 250 per 100,000 of the population; half that of Manchester.

Charles Bloom, managing director of website Vapourlites.com said: “Smoking for many years has been documented as one of the most preventable causes of various deadly diseases and illnesses.

“Changing this behaviour can be difficult, but with more safer alternatives to smoking than ever before and ground-breaking studies/research, the glowing hope is that many more lives in the future will be saved.”