Smoking costing healthcare system half a billion a year

Head of Services and Advocacy at the Irish Cancer Society Donal Buggy said: “This is a positive and significant contribution to the existing evidence on tobacco consumption and its effects, and covers a broad range of costs associated with smoking.”

“It is also clear that smoking has significant financial costs for society, the environment and the Irish economy.”

Meanwhile, the estimated number of deaths caused by smoking each year at 5,870 has increased on previous estimates of 5,200 deaths per annum.

Mr. Buggy said the increase was due to better scientific understanding of the cause of cancer and other respiratory diseases:“The increase in the estimated number of deaths caused by smoking each year is largely due to more cancers and other respiratory diseases being attributable to smoking than was previously understood.”

In 2015, 81,430 days in hospital beds were given over to cancers caused by smoking, while 6,350 inpatient admissions were patients with cancers caused by smoking.

Meanwhile, the loss of welfare from morbidity related to smoking and premature mortality were estimated at €1.5 billion and €8 billion respectively.

Mr. Buggy said a lot is being done to combat smoking: “Great strides have been made in reducing smoking rates in recent years, thanks to public health legislation, strong prevention messages and improved supports for those who want to quit, and now less than 1 in 5 people in Ireland smoke, while smoking rates among children have fallen to 8%.”

Since the publication of the Tobacco Free Ireland Report in 2013, the smoking rates for adults have fallen from a rate of 22% among adults and 12% among children.

The Department of Health have committed to a Tobacco Free Ireland by 2025 – which means an overall smoking rate of less than 5%.