HC Deb 01 July 2003 vol 408 c224W
11. Andrew Mackinlay

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for further measures to combat smoking. [122429]

Miss Melanie Johnson

We are implementing a comprehensive tobacco programme to help the 7 in 10 smokers who want to quit and to prevent people starting. As well as introducing legislation, we are investing £138 million in the National Health Service stop smoking services over the next three years and £39 million in the next year on prevention.

The most recent estimated cost to the NHS of treating smoking related diseases was for 1997 and was between £1.4 billion and 1.7 billion for England1'. As total net NHS expenditure for the year 1996–97 was £33.0 billion, the percentage of expenditure this represents is between 4.2 per cent. and 5.4 per cent.

1"Cost Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Interventions" by the Health Education Authority, in collaboration with the University of York published in 1997.