Key points from article :
A new study has found that smoking causes 150 cancer cases every day in the UK alone.
Tobacco smoking in the UK and US peaked at around 50% in the 1950s, but has since dropped to around 13%.
Very high-income countries like the UK are projected to see a 50% increase in cancer cases over the next 50 years.
Researchers are calling on Members of Parliament to support raising the age of sale of tobacco products as a way to create the first ever smoke-free generation.
The study also found that four preventable risk factors – smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity and HPV infections – result in almost two million deaths combined and over 30 million years of life lost each year.
Shockingly, at least 20.8 million years of life are lost from smoking tobacco alone.
The study, featured in eClinicalMedicine, emphasises the critical role of global action in saving millions of lives from preventable cancers.
The study involved the work of researchers from King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London.
