New tack for anti-smoking push

The price of smoking - £1,500 a year

Anti-smoking campaigners are taking a fresh angle to persuade people to quit - by pointing out the annual cost of cigarettes.

The latest Budget increases mean that the average 20-a-day puffer will spend £1,500 on their habit.

Official "No-smoking day" is on Wednesday, and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund is already piling the pressure on smokers.

They normally focus on the health risks of long-term smoking - heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses.

However, this time around they have added up the potential savings, observing that a quitter could pay for two return flights to Australia by the end of the year by stopping now.

Quitting smoking: What you could save

Two weeks - Pair of tickets for West End musical (£60)

Two months - Luxury weekend for two at health spa (£250)

Six months - Widescreen TV and DVD player (£760)

End of 2001 - Two return flights to Australia (£1,200)

12 months - Premier League Season Tickets for family of four (£1,500)

The cost of a packet of many branded cigarettes is approximately £4.25 following the Budget.

Dr Mike Murphy, from Imperial Cancer Research Fund, said: "Your health will benefit even more than your wallet.

"Smoking causes one-in-three deaths from cancer in the UK and every cigarette smoked shortens your life by around 11 minutes."

Chronic disease

Smokers who give up before their 35th birthday avoid almost all of the increased risk of developing cancer and other diseases.

The government is encouraging people to quit

Smokers are also being warned to look out for the signs of another tobacco-related disease - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

This is a debilitating and incurable lung condition, a combination of chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

The British Thoracic Society is launching a poster and leaflet campaign in GP surgery waiting rooms to help sufferers spot the symptoms early.

Dr Michael Rudolf, chairman of the British Thoracic Society's COPD Consortium, said: "COPD has been a hidden killer for too long. This new campaign will raise the profile of the disease.

"The sooner we can diagnose and treat the disease the better the outcome for the patient. It is also essential that diagnosed patients try to kick their smoking habit."

Half of all long-term smokers will eventually be killed by their habit - nine out of ten deaths from lung cancer are due to smoking.

Even giving up smoking aged 50 or above can yield significant health benefits, and cut the risk of lung cancer, say doctors.