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Home>Smoking> Poorest most hit by smoking deaths, UK
Poorest most hit by smoking deaths, UK
The greatest number of deaths from smoking-related diseases occurs in the UK's poorest areas, a new survey
claims.
A study conducted by the Health Development Agency found that more than 1,600 people in England die each week as a result of
smoking, with around 86,500 people dying in England on average each year from 1998 to 2002.
The area with the highest proportion of smoking-related deaths was north Liverpool, where 43 per cent of deaths in people
over 35 were due to smoking, followed by Knowsley on Merseyside and Tower Hamlets in east London with 42 per cent.
A top ten blacklist of places in England with the highest number of deaths from smoking-related diseases also included
Central Liverpool, Southwark and Islington in London, North Manchester, East and West Hull and Harlow.
At the other end of the scale, East Devon has just 23 per cent of deaths linked to smoking, followed by Bexhill, North
Somerset, South Cambridgeshire, South Bucks, the Cotswolds, the Suffolk coast and Mid-Sussex.
Experts claim that poor people who smoke are least likely to give up and also have bad housing and diets, which can make
health problems worse. Health professionals in poorer areas can also be overworked and patients may receive weaker standards
of care.
HAD chairman Dame Yve Buckland said: "Smoking-attributable deaths differ by up to 20 per cent across Primary Care Trusts.
These high levels of variation in smoking rates are unacceptable."
http://www.hda-online.org.uk
 
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