Cancers caused by smoking reaching all-time high 'really scares me'
Sally Griffiths' mum died from lung cancer after being a regular smoker
Last updated 9th Jul 2024
A Wirral woman who lost her mum to lung cancer, after smoking regularly throughout her life, says news that cancer cases caused by smoking is at an all-time high 'really scares me.'
Cancer Research UK says there are 160 new cases every day - up 17% from 2023 - and there are around six point four million people in the UK who still smoke.
Sally Griffiths is from the Wirral - her mum died at the age of 71 from lung cancer after smoking regularly throughout her life.
She said:
"It really, really scares me still because the worries and concerns about it have been known for so many years now and I genuinely can't understand why people still do it. It's easy for me to say, I've never had an addiction, so I don't know how awful it must be for people to stop smoking.
"However, something needs to be done to stop people starting smoking because I think that's what the issue is.
"People are turning to vapes nowadays and there are younger people that I work with who've never smoked in their life, but they vape. They vape their heads off and you think, why would you do something like that? Because it's supposed to be used as an alternative to smoking cigarettes, but I think they maybe do it to be cool or something like that.
"It frightens me that it's (cases are) so high nowadays and myself and my family would never want anybody to go through what we did when we saw mum deteriorate.
It was one of the worst things to happen. I was very lucky that I was with her when she passed away, but I was on my own with her when she passed away, so at least she wasn't on her own, but I would never want anybody to go through what we did because it's just the worst thing in the world.
"To see somebody you love who can't breathe, basically. I appreciate, you know, it's all self-inflicted, but you still don't want to see somebody in so much pain like that."
Cancer Research UK is calling on the newly-elected government to re-introduce a bill in the first King’s Speech next week, which would mean people born since the start of 2009 would never legally be sold tobacco products.
The bill had been voted through second-reading in the House of Commons, but it wasn't completed before the end of the last parliament because a general election was called.
Ms Griffiths added:
"I suppose it's going to be very difficult to police it, isn't it? Because I know that there's lots of shops who still sell to underage people - and you know, who's going to police that for us?
"But I absolutely support something like that because we've got to do something - otherwise there's just going to be a generation that will be wiped out because they've got lung cancer."
The biggest increase in cases are seen in liver, throat and kidney, where UK cancer cases caused by smoking have doubled over the last 20 years.
Lung cancer still has the strongest link to smoking, causing 33,000 cases each year.
Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy, said:
"Right now, six people are diagnosed every hour in the UK with cancer that was caused by smoking. Every hour, six families’ lives are changed forever by an illness that could have been prevented.
"Smoking is a uniquely toxic consumer product and has no place in our future. Raising the age of sale of tobacco products will be one of the biggest public health interventions in living memory, establishing the UK as a world-leader.
"It’s vital that this Bill is re-introduced at the King’s Speech, passed and implemented in full so the impact of smoking is consigned to the history books."
Cancer epidemiologist at Cancer Research UK, Karis Betts, said:
"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 cancer types, like lung, breast and bowel.
"It’s vital that the UK Government continues to sustainably fund smoking cessation services to give those who want to quit the support they need to succeed.
"Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for your health, but it’s not always easy, and it can take a few attempts to find the method that works for you. But keep trying, and get support from your free local stop smoking service, doctor or pharmacist."