Research reveals £5bn cost of smoking to NHS

Published on 09/06/2009 10:06

SMOKING costs the NHS more than £5 billion a year – up to five times the previously accepted figure, Oxford University researchers said.

Illness and disability linked to smoking puts a "huge burden" on the health service. The largest proportion of the money spent on illnesses caused by smoking was on cardiovascular diseases, which cost 250.8 million.