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...according to the people who sell cigarettes Smoking related illnesses in the UK cost the NHS (taxpayers) around £5Bn year, and taxes on tobacco raise around
by gaius 8y ago
...according to the people who sell cigarettes
Smoking related illnesses in the UK cost the NHS (taxpayers) around £5Bn year, and taxes on tobacco raise around £9Bn. So it's pretty close, but that £4Bn gap will need to be made up from somewhere. Personally I'd legalise the wacky tobaccy and tax that, but there really ought to be equivalent taxes on vaping too.
Also if life expectancy goes up, there will be an even greater shortfall in pensions too.
- mistermann 8y ago> but there really ought to be equivalent taxes on vaping too. No need to demonstrate health risks first?
- gaius 8y agoSome taxes are on “sins” and some are on “luxuries”. But the money’s still got to come from somewhere. Who wins if we ban smoking and cut that money from the NHS? No one.
- ahakki 8y agoPretty sure that 4bn gap is more than compensated by the fact that smokers die earlier.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- DanBC 8y agoSo, the numbers you're talking about are conservative esitmates. They only include smokers. They don't include, for example, the children of smokers, who have many much more respiratory illness than other children. The hospital admission costs only include this list, and only include them when these are the primary diagnosis of the admission episode. Importantly, the cost used is the payment by results cost, not the actual cost to the treating trusts or GP surgeries. > Smoking attributable admissions are defined as spells where the primary diagnosis of the admission episode is attributable to the following ICD-10 codes: > malignant neoplasms: lip, oral cavity, pharynx (C00 to C14), oesophagus (C15), stomach (C16), pancreas (C25), larynx (C32), trachea, lung, bronchus (C33-C34), cervix uteri (C53), kidney and renal pelvis (C64 to C66, C68), urinary bladder (C67), acute myeloid leukaemia (C92), unspecified site (C80) > cardiovascular diseases: ischaemic heart disease (I20 to I25), other heart disease (I00 to I09, I26 to I51), cerebrovascular disease (I60 to I69), atherosclerosis (I70), aortic aneurysm (I71), other arterial disease (I72 to I78) > respiratory diseases: pneumonia, influenza (J10 to J18), bronchitis, emphysema (J40 to J43), chronic airway obstruction (J44) > diseases of the digestive system: stomach ulcer, duodenal ulcer (K25 to K27), Crohn’s disease (K50), periodontal disease (K05) > other diseases: age related cataract (H25), hip fracture (S72.0 to S72.2), spontaneous abortion (O03)
- gaius 8y agoThe direct cost to the NHS is £2.7Bn, £5Bn is an estimate of the total cost from The Nursing Times.