HC Deb 21 May 2002 vol 386 cc301-2W
Richard Ottaway

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent information he has collated on the extent to which smoking reduces life expectancy. [55404]

Yvette Cooper

The Health Education Authority publication titled "The UK Smoking Epidemic: Deaths in 1995" by Christine Callum sets out the impact of smoking on life expectancy, table Fl on page 65. A copy of the report is available in the Library.

The report shows, for example, that men of 35 who smoke will, on average, die seven years earlier than men who have never been smokers. Similarly, women of 35 who smoke will, on average, die six years earlier than women who have never been smokers.