Jim Higgins
Question:182 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Health and Children the amount of finance spent on smoking related illnesses in 1998 and 1999. [5836/00]
Vol. 515 No. 3
182 Mr. Higgins (Mayo) asked the Minister for Health and Children the amount of finance spent on smoking related illnesses in 1998 and 1999. [5836/00]
The hospital in-patient enquiry collects detailed data on all patient discharges from publicly funded acute hospitals and is the only routine source of information allowing health service treatment costs to be attributed to specific illnesses. Consumption of tobacco increases the risk of morbidity from a wide range of conditions. These include cancers, diseases of the heart and circulatory system, and respiratory disorders. According to HIPE there were approximately 50,000 hospitalisations due to these illnesses in 1998 accounting for an estimated 20% of total hospital inpatient costs. Caution should be exercised in the interpretation of these figures since they include all hospitalisations from the specified illnesses irrespective of whether or not they were due to smoking. Data on detailed hospital activity and costs for 1999 are not yet complete.