Tobacco

Lead person:	Lead PHO: LHO
Assistant Director
Tel: 020 7685 6790

Nationally, one fifth of all UK deaths (112,000 per year) are caused by smoking. One in two regular smokers is killed by tobacco and half of all smokers die before the age of 70, losing an average of 21 years of life.

Compared with non-smokers, smokers who smoke between 1 and 14 cigarettes a day have eight times the risk of dying from lung cancer and those who smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day have 25 times this risk.

Cigarette smokers have two to three times the risk of a heart attack, as well as an increased risk of a variety of other health problems including stroke, complications during pregnancy and impotence.

As smoking is the biggest single preventable cause of ill-health and premature death, encouraging people to stop smoking is the most important way of reducing mortality, morbidity, and health inequalities.

For more information about this topic, please look at the topic on the LHO web site.

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