Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of (a) smoking-related and (b) alcohol-related diseases in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Treating smoking-related illnesses cost the National Health Service in England an estimated £2.7 billion in 2006/07. These estimates are being updated as part of the development of the tobacco control plan.

Figures of the cost to the NHS of alcohol misuse are not available on an annual basis.

The most recent estimate from Public Health England (PHE) for 2014 is that alcohol costs the NHS around £3.5 billion per annum. The Department estimates that just under half of that is due to alcohol related inpatient admissions to hospital.

PHE’s report “Alcohol and drugs prevention, treatment and recovery: why invest?, Public Health England” can be found at:

www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/why-invest-2014-alcohol-and-drugs.pdf