Smoking-related cancers are twice as common in poor English populations

According to Cancer Research UK (CRUK)-[1]-[2], smoking causes nearly twice as many cases of cancer in low-income populations compared to high-income populations.

Smoking is responsible for 74,600 of the 78,000 deaths in the United Kingdom (UK) each year in England. While tobacco use has been falling in the UK for decades, 14.11% of adults are still smokers and many former smokers suffer from the long-term health effects of smoking, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.[3].

The leading preventable risk factor for cancer, smoking is responsible for almost a fifth (64,500) of all new cancer cases each year and 27,130 cancer deaths in the UK.[4].

Smoking, the main marker and factor of social inequality

Of the new cancers diagnosed annually in England among the 20 % of people with the lowest living standards, 21% are directly linked to smoking, while less than 10 % of those diagnosed among the 20 % of people with the highest living standards are.

People living in the most deprived areas of England (north and central) are 2.5 times more likely to smoke than those living in other areas and often find it harder to quit, contributing significantly to health inequalities.

According to CRUK, these inequalities are the result of a number of factors including: tobacco industry targeting, financial and housing difficulties and poorer access to care, information and education. In total, more than 27,000 new cases of cancer each year in England are linked to poverty, and around 5,500 of these cases could be avoided each year if inequalities in tobacco use were eliminated.

The value of targeted cessation programs

According to CRUK, public health and prevention services play a vital role in tackling health inequalities, and this has become even more evident and important since the Covid-19 pandemic exposed a backlog of investment in these services.

The UK government has set a target of a tobacco-free generation by 2030; given the current socio-economic divide, while the most advantaged populations may reach this target by 2025, the most disadvantaged populations are unlikely to do so until the mid-2040s.

These data confirm the importance of targeting tobacco control at the least advantaged population groups, as the National Health Service (NHS) recently did with the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership's "smoke-free pregnancy" programme, which reduced the smoking rate in the third trimester of pregnancy from 12.6% in 2017/18 to 9.8% in 2020/21.[5].

CRUK chief executive Michelle Mitchell has criticised funding cuts to tobacco control activities in England in recent years, with prevention campaigns being cut, which is undermining the goal of a smoke-free England by 2030. She is calling for tobacco companies to cover the costs of the harm caused by smoking, with no say in how spending is spent. This new source of funding should help smokers quit.

AE