Cigarettes cause 351,000 deaths a year in eight countries

Causes of cigarette smoking 351,000 deaths per year in eight Latin American countrieswith the demanding costs of nearly $50,000 million a year associated with the care of smoking-related diseases, according to a study released this Monday.

The investigation, which he led Institute for Clinical and Healthcare Efficiency (IECS)in Buenos Aires, in cooperation with research centers, universities and public institutions from various countries. Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador and Chilethe countries they represent 80% population of Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to the study, 351,000 deaths per year can be attributed to smoking in those eight countries, representing 12.4% of all deaths in adults older than 35 years.

Likewise, the research group found that smoking causes 2.2 million cases of disease annually, among other things. 130,000 cases of cancer and 899,000 cardiovascular events.

“Despite the fact that in recent decades there has been a relative decrease in the proportion of smokers, smoking is still an epidemic that makes people sick and kills. Namely, almost 1,000 people die from it every day in our region, because we cannot stand idly by,” warned the general director of IEKS -And, Andrés Pichon-Riviere.

MILLIONS OF COSTS

The research also found that in the eight countries included in the study, the costs that smoking poses to health systems and the economy, including direct health care costs for the diseases it causes, lost work productivity and family care, amount to a regional total of 49.8 billion dollars.

One component is the $22.8 billion in direct health care costs for smoking-related diseases, meaning that up to $1 out of every $10 spent on health in national budgets is used to mitigate the effects of smoking. smoking.

According to the study, the total annual cost in the region is more than ten times the average tobacco tax collection in the countries.

According to the researchers, if this tax were increased and other measures to discourage tobacco use, such as imposing a smoke-free environment, could be avoided in the next 10 years, about 300,000 dead and cut 90,000 million dollars costs associated with smoking.