Smoking is costing the NHS in Humber and North Yorkshire £62.7 million every year through hospital admissions and GP visits linked to smoking-related illness — at a time when frontline services are under intense strain.
Research has revealed that every cigarette smoked cuts life expectancy by 20 minutes, highlighting the staggering impact of tobacco not only on health, but on our health system.
“This isn’t about personal choice, it’s about an industry profiting from addiction to a product that kills two in three of its long-term users,” said Scott Crosby, Associate Director of the Humber and North Yorkshire Centre of Excellence.
Tobacco is the only consumer product that kills the majority of its users when used exactly as intended. In Humber and North Yorkshire, smoking is a leading driver of:
- Cancer, heart disease, stroke, COPD and mental ill health
- Increased and longer hospital admissions
- Deepening health inequalities between communities
“Tobacco remains the number one cause of preventable death and disease in our region,” said Scott. “The scandal isn’t that people smoke — it’s that the tobacco industry continues to profit while our NHS pays the price.”
The full cost of smoking to Humber and North Yorkshire — including lost productivity and social care — is now estimated at £1.39 billion a year.
A recent report by the IPPR Health and Prosperity Commission calls for the government to adopt a “polluter pays” approach, ensuring companies who profit from harmful products are held financially responsible for the damage they cause.
This echoes long-standing calls from national health charities like Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), who have proposed a levy on tobacco manufacturers’ profits — not smokers themselves — to fund stop smoking services.
Hazel Cheeseman, Chief Executive of ASH, said: “The profits made by addicting people to a lethal product would be much better used to fund stop smoking support for everyone who wants to quit. It’s time we stopped asking taxpayers to foot the bill for the tobacco industry’s harm.”
Quitting smoking remains the single best thing a person who smokes can do to improve their health. And with expert support, people are three times more likely to succeed. Find expert support near you: www.yestoquit.co.uk