Research funding for addressing tobacco-related disease: an analysis of UK investment between 2008 and 2012

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the UK. However, research spending on tobacco-related disease, and particularly smoking prevention, is thought to be low. We therefore aimed to assess the relation between tobacco-related research investment and disease burden from 2008 to 2012. METHODS: We used the Health Research Classification System to classify UK government and charitable research funding by broad health category and then by tobacco prevention research and 18 WHO defined tobacco-related diseases. We used UK mortality figures to calculate disease-specific tobacco attributable deaths and then compared disease specific and tobacco prevention research investment with all cause and tobacco attributable mortality over the 5-year period and as annual averages. RESULTS: 12 922 research grants were identified with a total value of £6.69bn, an annual average of £1.34bn. Annually an average of 110 000 people die from tobacco-related disease, approximately 20% of total deaths. £130m is invested in researching tobacco-related disease each year and £5m on tobacco prevention, 10.8% and 0.42% of total annual research funding, respectively. Prevention research equated to an annual average of £46 per tobacco attributable death or one pound for every £29 spent on tobacco-related disease. Funding varied widely for diseases with different numbers of deaths (eg, lung cancer £68 per all cause death, cervical cancer £2500), similar numbers of deaths (leukaemia £983 per death, stomach cancer £43) or similar numbers of tobacco attributable deaths (eg, colorectal cancer £5k, pancreatic cancer £670, bladder cancer £340). CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco-related research funding is not related to burden of disease or level of risk. As a result certain diseases receive a disproportionately low level of research funding and disease prevention funding is even lower.