§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the total sums spent directly and indirectly by his Department on anti-cigarette smoking activities; and if he has any information concerning the amount spent by the tobacco industry for sales promotions for the last year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. WhitneyThis year the Department has provided about £3.5 million for activities designated to discourage smoking. Information on media advertising expenditure by the tobacco industry is supplied to the Department regularly on a confidential basis. We also have available the results of a continuous survey, undertaken by a commercial organisation, of press advertising on tobacco products which in 1985 was of a gross value of £55.5 million.
§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost to the National Health Service of smoking related disease for the last year to a convenient date; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe annual costs to the National Health Service of treating smoking-related diseases, including the cost of general practitioner consultations and out-patient attendances, is now estimated at around £370 million. Previous estimates were based on less full data.
§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of recorded deaths in 1983 from the drug abuse of heroin, methadone, morphine and opium; what is his estimate of the number of premature deaths in that year caused by cigarette smoking; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe table shows the numbers of deaths registered in 1983 in England and Wales with an underlying cause of death stated as drug dependence on, or non-dependent abuse of, morphine-type drugs, which include heroin, methadone, opium, opium alkaloids and their derivatives, and synthetics with morphine-like effects.
Deaths from abuse of morphine-type drugs England and Wales 1983 ICD* Cause of death Number of deaths 304.0 Drug dependence: morphine-type 64 304.7 Drug dependence: morphine-type with other drugs 14 305.5 Non-dependent abuse of drugs: morphine-type 1 * International Classification of Diseases 9th revision.
530WThe Royal College of Physicians in its report "Health or Smoking?" (1983) stated that "some 100,000 of our citizens are dying prematurely" from the effects of smoking. This is based on the assumption that abolition of the hazards from cigarette smoking would lead to a reduction in the mortality of smokers and thus an increase in their expectation of life.