Statistics show that one in two smokers will die from a smoking-related illness.

That’s according to Dr. Leslie Phillips, a professor at MUN’s School of Pharmacy, and director of a smoking cessation program there.

In 2017, survey results show smoking rates in Canada increased for the first time since the 1960s and this province still has the highest rate of smoking in the country.

She says the national prevalence went up from 13 to 15 per cent and in Newfoundland and Labrador it went up from 18.5 per cent to 20 per cent.

D. Phillips questions the role vaping might be having on the increase, but more services are needed to help smokers quit.

It remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease worldwide and here in Canada.

Dr. Leslie Phillips spoke on the VOCM Morning Show. Listen below: