Lord Young of Cookham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Young of Cookham on 2016-07-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the lower life expectancy of those on low incomes is due to the higher rates of smoking in that group.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The independent review into health inequalities in England undertaken by Professor Sir Michael Marmot culminated in the publication in 2010 of Fair Society, Healthy Lives. A copy of the review has been placed in the Library. The review identified the most effective evidence-based strategies for reducing health inequalities in England and made the following recommendation:

“Tobacco control is central to any strategy to tackle health inequalities as smoking accounts for approximately half of the difference in life expectancy between the lowest and highest income groups. Smoking-related death rates are two to three times higher in low-income groups than in wealthier social groups.”