HL Deb 07 September 2004 vol 664 cc143-4WA
Lord Stoddart of Swindon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in cases where the cause of death is defined as lung cancer, any record is kept of the deceased's smoking habits or their exposure to passive smoking; and, if so, from whom that information is obtained. [HL3952]

Lord Warner

In individual cases of death from lung cancer records of smoking habits are not routinely kept. However, it is possible to estimate the number of lung cancer deaths due to smoking from known data on current and historical smoking rates. In 1995 an estimated 30,600 deaths from lung cancer were attributable to smoking, 84 per cent of all lung cancer deaths. The details of the methodology used to calculate this figure are set out in detail in the UK Smoking Epidemic: Deaths in 1995, which was published in 1998 by the Health Education Authority. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How the cost to the National Health Service of smoking-related diseases is calculated. [HL3953]

Lord Warner

Calculation of the cost to the National Health Service of treating smoking-related diseases is set out in the journal of the British Thoracic Society, Thorax 1998Smoking cessation Guidelines and their Cost effectiveness; Volume 53, Supplement 5, Part 1, S4–S10. A copy of Thorax has been placed in the Library.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many children attend accident and emergency departments each year as a result of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke; how this figure is calculated; and what illnesses are involved. [HL3954]

Lord Warner

The Royal College of Physicians, using the most recent data for hospital admissions among children and prevalence of smoking among mothers, calculated that 5.7 per cent of total hospital admissions of children aged 0 to four (approximately 17,000 hospital admissions) were due to exposure to parental smoke. The details of the methodology used to calculate this figure are set out in detail in the publication Smoking and the young, Royal College of Physicians 1992. A copy has been placed in the Library.

According to the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health, secondhand smoke is causally linked to ischaemic heart disease, cot death, middle ear disease, serious respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia, asthma attacks and other breathing problems in children.