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HOW CAN ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE STARTER KITS HELP THE NHS?
There is no debate that smoking places an unnecessary strain on the NHS every year.
But it has been a long lasting debate regarding how much smoking actually costs the NHS, research conducted in 2006 estimated that smoking cost the NHS anywhere from £2.5B and £6B! (1)
Before we delve any deeper into this mystery, it is important to note that people don’t simply get admitted to the hospital for ‘smoking’, but rather due to a series of related illness and symptoms, like COPD or even diabetes.
The symptoms can range anywhere from chronic coughing to worst case scenarios like cancer, so it is with great uncertainty that this research is conducted. However there is no doubt that smoking is a big problem for the NHS.
NHS HOW MUCH DOES SMOKING COST THE NHS?
Smoking in general is the leading (preventable) killer in the UK, and the world (2). About half of life-long smokers die prematurely from cancer or other diseases.
Smoking kills more people than obesity, alcohol, illegal drugs, road accidents and HIV infections combined.
Treating smoking related cancer costs the NHS roughly £0.6bn a year and cardiovascular diseases costs £2.5bn a year more. This is also added with treatment for long-term lung conditions which costs a further £1.4bn.
An Oxford university team of researchers found that in 2005, smoking accounted for one in five deaths and a significantly higher number of disabilities in the UK. This number is on the rise every year and equates to about 5.5% of the entire NHS budget.
However these estimates are slightly inaccurate and are also underestimated. This is especially true when it comes to cancer. It is extremely hard to establish the cause of cancer, so cancer patients often don't get included in smoking statistics.
The actual number is likely to be much higher. Other research has also been conducted to attempt to estimate the cost of smoking related illness to the NHS, many of which resulted in a much higher number than stated in this article.
Finally another impact on the wider UK economy, smoking causes roughly £5.3 billion in losses from sick leave and loss of productivity to businesses. Add to this the cost of smoking related deaths on society as a whole, and the UK government estimate the total loss to the British economy to be £12.6 billion!
WHY IS SMOKING SO COSTLY TO THE NHS?
In 2013, 17% of all deaths of adults aged 35 and over in England were estimated to be attributed to smoking, about 1 in 6 deaths (3)! Smoking can also be attributed to a loss of about 10 years of life for a pack a day smoker.
In fact the number of admissions related to smoking has been on the rise since 1996/1997. This is most likely due to the older generation of smokers beginning to experience the effects of their bad habits. The latest statistics still show an increase in smoking-related hospital admissions from 2021-22 to 2022-23 by 4.8% - up to 408,700 from 389,800. (4)
In 2008/2009 there was an estimated 1.5 million hospital admissions of which the primary diagnosis was a disease related to smoking.
With such staggering statistics about the general damage caused by smoking, there is no doubt that smoking-related patients account for a huge portion of the NHS’s funding.
Even though smoking is reducing in popularity every day, it is still the leading cause of death and diseases in the UK.
*2024 Update - Sadly, since the Covid-19 pandemic, the smoking rate in the UK has stagnated at around 15% since before the pandemic. (5)
HOW CAN E-CIGARETTES HELP?
Considering the overall cost of smoking on the NHS and ultimately on how our taxes are being spent in the UK, E-cigarettes seem like the best way to stop this. And the recent article from Public Health England backs this idea. They claim that “e-cigarettes can be up to 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes,” which means that if you make the switch, you are not only saving money for yourself but for everyone else as well!
*2024 Update - The largest scientific review on E-Cigarettes to-date, conducted by Cochrane, found high certainty evidence that E-Cigarettes are more effective than nicotine replacement therapy products, like nicotine patches or gum. (6)
HOW ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE STARTER KITS COULD HELP THE NHS - CONCLUSION
E-Cigarettes are less harmful than smoking, cheaper for the consumer, and quitting with an E-Cigarette allows the body to begin the long road to recovery from (potentially) years of tobacco use.
So, if you know someone who is still smoking or see someone on the street smoking, tell them about SMOKO and the UK's best electronic cigarette starter kit deals and how it can change their lives and yours!
*2024 Update - Now you can get a FREE E-Cigarette starter kit when you buy a box of SMOKO E-Cigarette refills! (One per customer)
REFERENCES
(1) Estimating the cost of smoking to the NHS in England and the impact of declining prevalence
(2) Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking
(3) Smoking and inequalities – let’s put a stop to it!
(4) Hospital admissions due to smoking up nearly 5% last year, NHS data shows
(5) Decline in smoking in England has stalled since pandemic
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Written by Dan Overgage
Dan Overgage – is a former smoker of 10 years until he became a client of SMOKO E-Cigarettes. Dan started working with SMOKO 5 years ago after successfully quitting using our e-cigarettes and works across our Customer Service and heads up our content creation and research with a strong focus on all things quitting smoking. During his tenure with SMOKO, Dan has written countless blogs and consults with countless clients every day to help them to stay smoke-free.
