Tobacco Fact File
- UK prevalence continues to be lowest, at 16%, among men and women aged 60 and over.
- Smoking prevalence is higher in Scotland, at 30%, than in England or Wales.
- People in the manual occupations are more likely to smoke than those in non-manual groups.
- In 1999 in the UK, 30% of pregnant women smoked.
- In the UK smoking is twice as common amongst 15-24 year old pregnant women (42%) than in those aged 35 and over (21%).
- In 1997-98 in England, 364,000 hospital admissions were attributable to smoking related illness.
- Manufactured and hand-rolled cigarettes account for up to 85% of all tobacco consumed worldwide.
- Passive smoking has been established as a cause of stroke
- Consumption of cigarettes in low- and middle-income countries has been rising steadily since the 1970s.
- Advice from GP (3-10 minutes) increases chance of quitting by 2 to 3%.
- Intensive support, such as attending a smokers' clinic, increases the chance of quitting by 8%.
- Smoking is reducing the female advantage in life expectancy.
- Nicotine replacement therapy approximately doubles cessation rates.
- It has been estimated that passive smoking in the workplace poses 200 times the acceptable risk for lung cancer, and 2000 times the acceptable risk for heart disease.
- Conventional ventilation and air conditioning systems do not provide effective protection against the health hazards of second-hand smoke.
- There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
- Around 3,000 people in Northern Ireland die every year from smoking related illness.
- 32% of people in Northern Ireland over the age of 16 reported being current smokers.
- 52% of men and 45% of women in Northern Ireland are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.
- Cigar smoking is associated with cancers of the oral cavity (lip, mouth, throat and tongue), larynx, lung and oesophagus.
- Daily cigar smokers, especially those who inhale, have an increased risk for developing heart and lung disease.
- Large cigars can contain as much tobacco a pack of cigarettes; between 5 and 17 grams of tobacco.
- The lung cancer risk from moderately inhaling smoke from five cigars a day is comparable to the risk from smoking up to one pack of cigarettes a day.
- In 1992 there were 1,525 fires in the state of New South Wales, Australia caused by discarded smoking materials.
- Tobacco use in the US, causes more than 440,000 deaths each year.
- Disorders associated with smoking during pregnancy are: low birth weight; congenital limb reduction; spontaneous abortion; and ectopic pregnancy.
- When filter ventilation holes are blocked on 'low tar' cigarettes the tar yield can increase dramatically, up to 12 times in some cases.
- Half of all regular smokers will eventually be killed by their habit.
- Habitual use of nicotine through smoking meets the key medical criteria for drug dependence.
- Tobacco is the single biggest killer in Europe. One in six deaths of all in Europe is caused by tobacco.
- Every year in the WHO European region, tobacco is responsible for 1.2 million deaths - a staggering 137 people per hour.
- Europe has the highest levels of tobacco consumption per head, the highest numbers of tobacco related deaths, and the highest burden of disability caused by tobacco.
- Tobacco will kill 2 million Europeans annually by the year 2020, and account for one in five of all deaths in the region.
- In Central and Eastern European countries, smoking rates are high amongst men, and rapidly increasing among women, while in countries in northwestern Europe, smoking rates are similar among men and women.
- During the period from 1990-93 in the EU 7.5 million workers were exposed to secondhand smoke at least 75% of the time.
- Smoking kills over half a million women each year.
- Lung cancer is rising more rapidly among women than among men in the EU.
- In 1995, 60% of female smokers in the EU aged 45 to 64 smoked 'light' cigarettes.
- Smoking rates among young Japanese women have increased significantly, and also appear to be on the rise among adolescents.
- 44% UK workplaces operate a total smoking ban.
- Almost three out of ten pregnant women in the UK who work are exposed to tobacco smoke in the workplace.
- Smoking is the most important public health problem in the UK today.
- Workers in the hospitality industry are subjected to far higher levels of secondhand smoke than most other workers.
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