Tobacco multinationals should pay to reduce smoking
Tobacco companies should be forced to pay towards reducing smoking. That’s the call from health campaigners as new figures show at least 34,000 households in the North East could be lifted out of poverty by quitting smoking.
It comes as Fresh joins Action on Smoking and Health and some of the UK’s major charities to launch “Smoking Still Kills” – a brand new five year blueprint for action to tackle smoking – including making the tobacco industry pay towards action to help more adults to stop and fewer children to start in the first place.
Fresh says such a move would save thousands of lives in the North East over the next decade, move more families out of poverty, help the regional economy, and save the region’s NHS and local authorities millions of pounds.
The NHS Five Year Forward View (2015) warns “the future health of millions of children, the sustainability of the NHS, and the economic prosperity of Britain all now depend on a radical upgrade in prevention and public health” to help fill a massive funding gap of billions of pounds. The tobacco industry makes around £30 billion in profit which is more than Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Microsoft combined.
New ASH research reveals that in the North East over 95,000 households who live below the poverty line include an adult that smokes. It is estimated that if they quit over 34,000 households in the North East would be lifted out of poverty.
Every year smoking in the North East also results in:
• 5,500 deaths a year; with 20 people suffering from a smoking related disease for every death.
• A cost to the NHS of over £93m a year, including over 527,000 GP appointments, and 109,000 hospital admissions and outpatient appointments.
• A cost to the regional economy of at least £59m a year through sickness and smoking breaks. Only about 10p in every £1 spent on tobacco stays within the local economy.
• A cost to local authorities of at least £37m a year in social care costs.
Lisa Surtees, Acting Director of Fresh, said: “Every year thousands of people in the North East die or have their lives changed forever by smoking related illnesses. At the same time thousands of young people take up smoking, storing up a burden of ill health and premature death for the future.
“As this report makes clear we must go further and do more. Most smokers regret ever starting and do not want their own children to start. As a time when so many people are struggling, these figures show how thousands of North East families could feel better off by quitting smoking.
“More than ever it’s the poorest people in our society who take up smoking younger and are more likely to suffer from tobacco related diseases from middle age, and the North East pays a heavy price, while the tobacco industry profits. It is morally right they should be forced to make a contribution to reducing the harm caused.”
In the March budget earlier this year the Chancellor committed the Government to continue the consultation on imposing a levy on tobacco companies.
The latest public opinion poll of North East adults shows strong support for Government action to reduce smoking:
• 82% of North East adults agree that they like the thought of smoking becoming a thing of the past for future generations
• Over a third (40%) think the Government should do more to reduce smoking while a further 37% think the Government is getting it about right
• 88% support a ban on smoking in cars carrying children
• 72% support standardised plain packaging, with only 11% opposing
• 80% agree tobacco companies should be required to disclose the amount they spent on lobbying politicians, front groups and promoting their products
The Smoking Still Kills report calls for:
1. A new vision for the country with ambitious target of achieving 5% smoking rate by 2035: No one should be left behind as we achieve a tobacco free future and health inequalities must not be allowed to widen
2. A new comprehensive five-year Government tobacco strategy for England: Comprehensive approach is vital – 70,000 lives have been saved due to falling smoking rates since 1998, when the first comprehensive government strategy on tobacco, Smoking Kills, was published.
3. A new approach to funding, annual levy on tobacco companies to fund tobacco control: Tobacco companies make over £1bn in profit in the UK and the harms from smoking to society are significant. They should pay to address the harms they cause.
4. A comprehensive package of measures: taken together the recommendations in this report are designed to set us on the path to a smokefree future by 2035.
Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive of British Heart Foundation, said:
“We need a comprehensive new strategy, sustained investment in tobacco control and strong political will to show we are serious about reducing the devastating damage that smoking causes. By cutting smoking rates further, we can reduce the rate of heart attacks almost immediately, and deliver longer term benefits by reducing cardiovascular conditions that cause so much suffering and cost the country dearly.”
Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, said:
“Any strategy to prevent cancer in this country must have a strong focus on tobacco. Smoking Still Kills provides a blueprint for the Government to show it remains seriously committed to tackling tobacco over the next five years. The real cost of this lethal and addictive product is borne by the people who suffer its effects through cancer and other diseases. But there is also a financial cost to the NHS and to society. This should be picked up by the tobacco companies themselves, who have been the agents of an epidemic which continues to impose a devastating economic and social burden on this country.”
Publishing its ambitious five-year tobacco strategy Smoking Still Kills, Peter Kellner Chair of report Editorial Board and President, YouGov, commented:
“The NHS is facing an acute funding shortage and any serious strategy to address this must tackle the causes of preventable ill health. The tobacco companies, which last year made over a £1 billion in profit, are responsible for the premature deaths of 80,000 people in England each year, and should be forced to pay for the harm they cause.
“Investing in evidence-based measures that reduce smoking is highly cost effective; for example Stop Smoking Services have been shown to be one of the most cost effective ways to improve people’s health. Placing a levy on tobacco companies to fund such work is a win-win – saving both money and lives.”
In 2010 the most detailed cost of smoking to the UK emerged when the Policy Exchange released the Cough Up report, calculating that taxation of tobacco contributes £10 billion to HM Treasury annually; while the costs to the NHS and society are much greater at £13.74 billion.