Smoking and the health of the nation
Effects of smoking, cost to the nation Health service and achieving reduced prevalence
Introduction
Tobacco is a temperate crop that was first use by Indians in central and South America as part of religious ceremonies. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus and other European explorers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries led to the development of the tobacco trade. Tobacco was first introduced to Europe from the new world at the end of the fifteenth century. Smoking rapidly spread as it was regarded as having medicinal value and by the seventeenth century smoking of tobacco was widespread through out Europe. It was not until the twentieth century though, that smoking became a mass habbit, and not until the second world war that the dangers of smoking were firmly established.
Today there are 10 3/4 million cigarette smokers in England alone, 28% of the 16+ population. There are also
3/4 of a million pipe smokers and over one million cigar smokers. While smoking among adults is falling, smoking prevalence for children under 16 is now closer to that for 1982. [1] The smoking of tobacco is considered to be one of the greatest causes of ill health and disability in this country [2]. In England there was estimated to be 99,823 smoking related deaths in 1988: this represents 17% of the deaths that year [2].The diseases that are attributed to causing these deaths are lung cancer and coronary heart disease and these are very expensive to treat. This cost majority of the time has to be provided by the already financially stretched National Health Service. The government responded to the above statistics in its health strategy. The health of the nation which published in 1992 set the following targets [3]
Effects of smoking, cost to the nation Health service and achieving reduced prevalence
Introduction
Tobacco is a temperate crop that was first use by Indians in central and South America as part of religious ceremonies. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus and other European explorers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries led to the development of the tobacco trade. Tobacco was first introduced to Europe from the new world at the end of the fifteenth century. Smoking rapidly spread as it was regarded as having medicinal value and by the seventeenth century smoking of tobacco was widespread through out Europe. It was not until the twentieth century though, that smoking became a mass habbit, and not until the second world war that the dangers of smoking were firmly established.
Today there are 10 3/4 million cigarette smokers in England alone, 28% of the 16+ population. There are also
3/4 of a million pipe smokers and over one million cigar smokers. While smoking among adults is falling, smoking prevalence for children under 16 is now closer to that for 1982. [1] The smoking of tobacco is considered to be one of the greatest causes of ill health and disability in this country [2]. In England there was estimated to be 99,823 smoking related deaths in 1988: this represents 17% of the deaths that year [2].The diseases that are attributed to causing these deaths are lung cancer and coronary heart disease and these are very expensive to treat. This cost majority of the time has to be provided by the already financially stretched National Health Service. The government responded to the above statistics in its health strategy. The health of the nation which published in 1992 set the following targets [3]
