Tobacco use has cost more than $ 16 billion in 2012

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QMI agency

Monday, 16 October 2017 17:11

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Monday, 16 October 2017 17:15

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OTTAWA | costs associated with smoking amounted to more than $ 16 billion in Canada in 2012, while cigarette smoking has caused more than 45,000 deaths, shows a study by the Conference Board of Canada.

According to the authors of the research, tobacco has generated direct costs of $ 6.5 billion in the health system. The cost of losses in productivity caused by long-term disability or premature death, for his part, was valued at $ 9.3 billion $. Long-term disability have also resulted in a loss of approximately $ 182 million in productivity.

In parallel to these costs, the various levels of government have also disbursed $ 122 million to the fight against tobacco use and to enforce laws governing tobacco products.

In addition to generating significant economic costs, smoking also has caused 45 464 deaths, or 18.4% of all deaths in the country in 2012. Nearly 47 % of these deaths were caused by cancer attributed to tobacco. These deaths represent the equivalent of close to 600 000 years of life lost prematurely, estimated the authors of the study.

“Even if the prevalence of smoking in Canada continues to decline, mortality attributable to smoking and the direct costs of health care are higher in 2012 than in 2002,” noted the researchers. They fear that the ageing of the population continues to increase costs in the health system.

Despite the tobacco control conducted by the governments and the imposition of more regulations that limit the use of the cigarette, approximately 3.9 million Canadians smoked, still in 2015, including 2.8 million every day, have reminded researchers in the conclusion.