£67m saving for NHS if UK was ‘tobacco-free’

THE NHS could save as much as £67m every year if smoking rates dropped to 5% across the UK, a new report has concluded.

Researchers at the UK Health Forum, commissioned by Cancer Research UK, examined the health and economic impact of the UK becoming “tobaccofree”, where just 5% of the population smoke.

The study predicts that achieving this target would avoid nearly 100,000 new cases of smoking-related disease in the UK, including 35,900 cancers over 20 years.

The impact of this health improvement amounts to a saving of £67m in direct NHS and social care costs and £548m in additional costs to the economy in 2035 alone.

If today’s trends continue, around 15% of people from the most deprivedgroups are predicted to smoke in 2035, compared to just 2.5% from the wealthiest.

Progress has already been made in tackling smoking and there are a number of effective measures in place, including the introduction of smokefree workplaces and a law to bring in plain, standardised packaging.

But even if the UK maintains current trends in smoking, tobacco could continue to devastate lives for generations to come.

Professor Paul Lincoln, UK Health Forum chief executive, said: “This study highlights the huge burden that smoking places on our society, particularly on the poorest and least advantaged groups.

“Unless we reduce the demand on the NHS from preventable causes of disease like smoking, it will be difficult to continue to provide sustainable healthcare for everyone who needs it. We hope that by showing the clear benefits of this tobacco free ambition, we can inform tobacco control policy in the UK and even worldwide.”

The research was published in Tobacco Control ahead of the General Election, after which both organisations are calling on the new Government to introduce a new Tobacco Control Strategy.