CANCER cases caused by smoking are at an all time high, according to Cancer Research UK.
Analysis by the charity suggests 160 people are diagnosed per day – nearly 58,000 per year.
Fags are the leading cause of cancer in Britain and behind one in seven cases.
Smoking rates have declined but a growing population and damage done years ago mean disease is still on the rise.
Health charities want the new Labour Government to follow through on Rishi Sunak’s pledge to phase in a total smoking ban.
Dr Ian Walker, policy director at Cancer Research UK, said: “Six people are diagnosed every hour in the UK with cancer that was caused by smoking.
“Smoking is a uniquely toxic product and it has no place in our future.”
Karis Betts, an epidemiologist at the charity, added: “Smoking remains the biggest cause of cancer in the UK and is responsible for 16 types of the disease, including some of the most common like lung, breast and bowel.
“Stopping is the best thing you can do for your health.”
CRUK estimates 57,555 smoking-related cancers were diagnosed in 2023.
It was a 17 per cent increase from 49,325 in 2003, and higher than the 56,091 in 2013, meaning the numbers are the greatest on record.
The total number of all cancers diagnosed in the UK each year is about 400,000.
Chemicals and tar inhaled from burning tobacco cause damage to cells’ DNA that can lead to tumour growth.
Lung cancer is the most closely linked to the habit, accounting for about half of smoking-related cases.
But it is also said to be causing more liver, throat and kidney tumours, with cases doubling in the past 20 years.
We are committed to creating a smoke-free country
Wes Streeting
Around 6.4million people in the UK – 12.9 per cent of the population – are smokers.
A letter signed by 35 health experts and charities will be sent to the new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, on Tuesday calling for ministers to end smoking.
Published in the British Medical Journal, the open letter calls for Labour to adopt Rishi Sunak’s plan to stop children born after 2009 ever being allowed to buy tobacco.
It said: “The UK has the chance to lead the world in phasing out smoking.
“The new government must seize it with both hands.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “As a cancer survivor, it is a personal priority that we reduce the numbers of people falling ill with the disease.
“Prevention is better than cure. This government will shift the focus of healthcare from simply treating sickness to preventing it in the first place.
“We are committed to creating a smoke-free country, so the next generation can never legally be sold cigarettes.”
FORMER Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged that he would introduce a law making it illegal for anyone born from 2009 onwards to ever buy tobacco.
The plan was shelved when the general election was announced, before it had been passed into law – but the Labour Party voted in favour of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and is widely expected to introduce the rule now that it is in power.
The rule proposed by Sunak was for the legal minimum age to buy tobacco to increase every year so that anyone born after January 2009 would never be old enough – so would never be able to buy cigarettes.
Britain would be the first country in the world to introduce such a law.
The age-based ban would not affect people who are already old enough to buy fags – they would be able to do so for the rest of their life.
Ex-Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “The vast majority of smokers start when they are young, and three-quarters say that if they could turn back the clock they would not have started.”
The bill also proposed a crackdown on disposable vapes and a ban on bright colours and flavours that appeal to youngsters.
