Overview

• Smoking is an important risk factor for the three diseases that cause most deaths in Australia: heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.
• It is responsible for around 80% of all lung cancer deaths and 20% of all cancer deaths.
• The total costs of smoking include both private costs (to the individual) and social costs (borne by community) and include costs associated with pain, suffering and loss of life.
• The effects of smoking include health effects, social and cultural and a range of serious effects on children, pregnant women and community members from environmental exposures.
• Smoking also affects oral health