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Smoking Related Diseases: Government Action

On 14 September 2016, the House of Lords will debate what further action the Government is taking to reduce the incidence of smoking-related diseases. The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) estimates that 476,000 people were admitted to hospital for conditions caused by smoking in 2014–15. In 2014, an estimated 78,000 deaths, it said, were attributable to smoking. The NHS explains that smoking can affect many aspects of a smoker’s health, including the circulatory system, stomach, skin, bone density, brain, mouth and throat, fertility and lungs. It has estimated that smoking causes 84　percent of deaths from lung cancer and 83 percent of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the prevalence of smoking is decreasing, according to the HSCIC. In 1974, an estimated 46 percent of adults in Great Britain smoked: in 2014 this figure stood at 19 percent.