New figures from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) show that smoking is having a huge impact on our economy, undermining the health of people during working age with some dying before they reach retirement.
In response to the figures, Professor Sanjay Agrawal, the Royal College of Physicians’ special adviser on tobacco, said: “Tobacco-related diseases put an inordinate amount of pressure on our health service and, as today’s figures show, also take a huge toll on our economy. Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of death in the UK, claiming the lives of 76,000 people every year. It is not a matter of free choice. Smoking is a lethal addiction that removes people’s choice entirely. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill has the potential to have an extraordinary impact on our society – it cannot come soon enough.”