New figures highlight impact of smoking-related lung disease

A new government report has revealed that around 25,000 deaths each year in England are attributable to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Public Health England has released new figures to highlight the debilitating nature of serious lung diseases for which smoking is the biggest preventable risk factor, including GP data showing that more than one million people are living with COPD.

Moreover, figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show COPD led to more than 113,000 emergency hospital admissions in England in 2013 and 2014.

In order to raise further awareness of the issue, a new short film has been released featuring Olympian Iwan Thomas, whose mother was recently diagnosed with COPD, to highlight the difficulties of living with the disease.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the government's chief medical officer, said: "The single best thing a smoker can do to reduce their chances of developing this devastating disease and prolong their life is to stop smoking."

Approximately 25,000 people die each year from COPD in England, around twice the European average. It is estimated that 86 percent of these deaths are caused by smoking.