As you smoke, country coughs up

As you smoke, country coughs up
SANCHITA SHARMA

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 6: Each tobacco-related cancer death in 1999 cost the country (individuals and taxpayers) an average of Rs 3.5 lakh, indicates a new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) study. The study, carried out over six years, is part of the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) task force project on cost of tobacco-related diseases.

Conducted by Dr G.K. Rath, Professor and Head, Department of Oncology, AIIMS, with Dr K. Chaudhry of the ICMR, the study included cancers of the oral cavity (except salivary glands), oro- and hypo-pharynx, larynx, lung, and oesophagus.

The researchers found the cost of cancer cure to be Rs 1,34,449 (at 1990 currency value). The cost to the patient was Rs 17,965, loss to the institution treating him was Rs 4,009, and loss in GNP due to premature death was Rs 1,12,475.

When calculated for 1999, the total figure touches Rs 3.5 lakh. Besides the cost of treatment, the incidence of cancers has also increased in this decade, up from over 1.54 lakh newcases in 1996 to 1.63 lakh in 1999.

The team followed patients for three years (or till they died, whichever occurred earlier) and collected data on the direct and indirect cost of the disease. The economics of the disease burden was calculated using information on loss wages for treatment, consultation, investigation, transport and lodging and boarding.

The final projections were made keeping in mind the cost to the patient and his family, cost to treating institution, loss of productivity due to absenteeism, death and disability because of the disease.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 25 tobacco-related diseases known today. Apart from cancers of the lung, larynx, oral cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, pancreas, bladder, cervix and leukaemia, nicotine increases blood pressure, asthma, causes impotence and infertility, and increases serum carbon monoxide, which can lead to shortness of breath.

Long-term use can lead to heart attack, stroke and cancer. Besides this, chronicexposure to nicotine causes structural damage to the brain, increasing the number of nicotine receptors, which makes it difficult for smokers to quit.

The report comes in the wake of WHO's international conference on `Global Tobacco Control Law: Towards a WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control' in New Delhi from January 7 to 9. The conference will look at how legal instruments can help the developing world enact and implement tobacco-control measures.

Tobacco consumption is projected to kill 10 million people by 2030, 70 per cent of whom will be in the developing world. The World Bank estimates that 500 million people alive today will eventually be killed because of tobacco consumption.