The Economic Impact of Tobacco Smoking In The Latin-American Healthcare Systems: A Study Conducted In Seven Countries And Its Extrapolation At The Regional Level

ALCARAZ, A; PICHON-RIVIERE, A; BARDACH, A; AUGUSTOVSKI, F

VALUE IN HEALTH

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2016 vol. 19

1098-3015

Objectives: To estimate the direct medical costs attributable to tobacco smok- ing in the Latin-American healthcare systems. MethOds: A microsimulation model was used to quantify the economic impact of cardiovascular and cerebro- vascular disease, COPD, pneumonia, lung cancer and other nine types of cancers. A systematic search for epidemiologic and event-cost data was carried out. The model was calibrated and validated for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. These countries accounted for 78% of the Latin-American popu- lation; then results were extrapolated to a regional level. Results: Every year tobacco smoking accounts for 33,576 million dollars in direct costs for the health- care system. This represents 0.7% of the region?s gross domestic product (GDP) and 8.3% of the healthcare budget. Cardiovascular disease, COPD and cancer accounted for 30.3%, 26.9% y 23.7% of this cost, respectively. The cost attributed to tobacco smoking ranged from 0.4% (Mexico and Peru) to 0.9% (Chile) of the GDP and 5.2% (Brazil) to 12.7% (Bolivia) of the healthcare costs. In the region, tax collection from cigarettes sales covers barely 35% of the healthcare costs attributed to tobacco smoking (8.1% in Bolivia; 63.4% in Chile). cOnclusiOns: Tobacco smoking accounts for a significant proportion of healthcare costs in Latin America, and tax collection from cigarette sales is far from covering them. Deepening measures, such as increasing tobacco taxes should seriously be con- sidered by the countries in the region.