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According to a new analysis, smoking costs Halton more than £ 33 million a year, thanks to NHS costs, sick leave and even smoking breaks.
Action on Smoking and Health, a leading anti-smoking charity, has calculated how much tobacco costs society. He compared various publicly available data, such as smoking prevalence, mortality, and hospital admissions.
The latest complete figures show that 17% of people smoked in Halton in 2016, which is higher than the UK average of 16%.
Ash's study estimates that smoking costs Halton's economy 22 million pounds a year because of the loss of work days.
The charity has calculated how much income has been lost by people who die before the retirement age, where smoking is a factor.
The analysis also takes into account the time lost due to breaks and sick leave related to smoking.
According to the National Institute for Excellence in Health and Care (Nice), smokers suffer an average of 2.74 additional days of illness per year compared to non-smokers.
Research has also shown that smoking costs £ 6 million a year at the Halton NHS, based on smoking-related hospitalizations and the cost of patients.
Ash Deborah Arnott, CEO of Ash, said, "Our tool shows how important the financial impact of smoking is at the local level and encourages local authorities to invest in measures to discourage young people from smoking. . .
"However, cuts in public health budgets mean that many local authorities no longer have the resources to invest in reducing smoking rates." false economy that hurts our local communities. "
Ash has also evaluated the impact on social care in Halton, with a cost of £ 3.8 million per year for public and private providers.
About half of the money spent on cigarettes goes to the government through the tobacco tax.
However, charities such as Ash and the British Heart Foundation are calling on the government to oblige tobacco companies to pay an additional tax that goes directly to tobacco control services.
Simon Gillespie, Managing Director of BHF, said: "Smoking kills more than 16,000 people in England each year as a result of heart disease.
"It is essential that tobacco control be properly funded, giving smokers the best chance of quitting and preventing people from starting to smoke.
"A tax on tobacco companies would ensure sustainable funding for tobacco control, which would make a decisive contribution to lowering smoking rates."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs said: "Smoking kills – that's why we took bold steps to reduce smoking and protect the public – including introducing standardized packaging for cigarettes , a car with a child.
"There are now fewer smokers in this country than ever before, but we are determined to further reduce these rates."
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