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Smoking is costing local authorities in England £760 million a year in social care, a new report warns. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health urged the Government to renew its efforts to reduce smoking rates and look at ways to force tobacco companies to pay for health campaigns. It said a government strategy on smoking is now a year overdue. The group added that local authorities in England are struggling to fund Stop Smoking Services due to government cuts. And with the bill for social care costs locally rising from £600 million in 2012, the report predicts this situation will get worse. The study, produced by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said that the tobacco companies whose products cause health, social and economic damage “should make a greater contribution to mitigating that harm”. "The four major tobacco manufacturers remain among the most profitable companies on Earth, so they could certainly afford to do this," it said.

See original article at: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-us/cancer-news/news-report/2017-01-30-ps760-million-annual-bill-from-smoking-adding-to-social-care-crisis