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Akanksha Arora • 26 Nov 2024
Smoking Could Cause 300,000 Cancer Cases In The UK By 2029: Study
Smoking Could Cause 300,000 Cancer Cases In The UK By 2029: Study (Image: Canva)
A new analysis has revealed that smoking could cause almost 300,000 cancer cases in the UK over the next 5 years. Cancer Research UK said that the “magnitude of damage” caused by cigarettes and tobacco “cannot be ignored.” The charity estimates there were nearly 160 cancer cases diagnosed in the UK every day in 2023. All of these cases could be attributed to smoking.
Analysis published by the charity on Monday estimates that there could be 296,661 new cases of cancer across the UK by 2029 if the situation remains the same. The study projects cases of cancer caused by smoking before the end of this parliamentary term, which researchers assumed to be in July 2029.
It estimated 243,045 cases in England, 29,365 in Scotland, 15,161 in Wales and 9,090 in Northern Ireland. Overall, 2,846 cancer cases in the UK could be caused by exposure to secondhand smoke in people who have never smoked.
Dr Ian Walker, the charity’s executive director of policy, while speaking to media, said, “Tobacco kills up to two-thirds of its users. The magnitude of damage caused by smoking cannot be ignored and these statistics expose the lives that are at stake.”
“We know that smoking rates decline with government intervention. Raising the age of sale of tobacco products and funding cessation services will help to protect people from a lifetime of deadly and costly addiction,” he added.
Along with this, the charity is urging all MPs to vote in favour of the tobacco and vapes bill - which would prevent anyone born after 1 January 2009 from legally smoking. It will then gradually raise the age at which tobacco can be bought. Along with this, MPs are being urged to back plans to make the UK the first country to eradicate smoking.
Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, has said the UK becoming “smoke-free” would lead to fewer stillbirths and cases of asthma in children. It will also reduce cases of cancer, strokes, heart disease and dementia.
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