Economic cost of tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke exposure at home in Thailand

Abstract

IntroductionSmoking is an important public health concern. This study is the first that attempts to estimate the economic cost of smoking and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure at home in Thailand.MethodA prevalence-based cost of illness approach following the guideline by WHO is employed.ResultIn 2017, the direct morbidity cost attributable to smoking and SHS exposure at home in Thailand was estimated to be at least US$265.97 million and US$23.66 million, respectively. Indirect morbidity costs from workday loss totalling US$25.04 million can be linked to smoking, while US$1.72 million was the result of SHS exposure at home. Smoking-attributable premature deaths resulted in an opportunity loss to the country equivalent to US$2.48 billion, while the figure was US$181.41 million for SHS exposure at home. Total years of life lost due to smoking and SHS-attributable premature deaths are estimated to have been at least 390 955 years for males and 82 536 years for females. The total economic cost from both types of tobacco exposure amounted to US$2.98 billion, equivalent to 17.41% of Thailand’s current health expenditure or 0.65% of its gross domestic product in 2017.ConclusionSmoking imposed a substantial economic burden on Thailand in 2017. Seven per cent of this cost was imposed on non-smokers sharing a residence with smokers. Females bore 80% of this SHS-related cost. The findings call for prompt responses from public health agencies in Thailand to launch effective tobacco control policies.

Association between socioecological factors and electronic cigarette use among Thai youth: an institution-based cross-sectional study

“…Tobacco-attributed morbidity and mortality have raised public health concerns worldwide due to the significant loss of human life and the enormous economic cost. [1][2][3][4][5] One-fourth of deaths worldwide are caused by ischaemic heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; more than 8 million are attributed to tobacco use. 2 The global economic cost of tobacco use is around US$1.85 trillion (1.8% of gross domestic product, GDP).…”

“…2 The global economic cost of tobacco use is around US$1.85 trillion (1.8% of gross domestic product, GDP). 3 However, the economic country cost varies globally, ranging from 0.65% of GDP 4 to 2.59% of GDP. 5 Due to the tremendous efforts of all countries, the global prevalence of tobacco use declined from 22.7% to 17.5% in 15 years.…”

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“…Most studies used prevalence to estimate the costs. 7,18,19,[28][29][30]36,38 The highest and lowest rates of the total cost as a percentage of GDP were reported for South Korea; 1.19% 17 and 0.33%, 27 respectively. Noteworthy, for all studies, indirect costs accounted for the highest share of all costs, except for one study conducted in Canada.…”

Factors Associated With Alcohol Consumption Among Thai People by Gender

“…This estimate includes direct and indirect costs. Whereas the cost of premature death (from both diseases and accidents) comprised the largest portion (81,869.33 million baht or 95.4% of the total cost), the second largest cost was the health care cost of alcohol-related diseases (2,508.18 million baht), which was 3% of the total cost (Komonpaisarn, 2019).…”

“…Furthermore, among men, diseases contributing to the outpatient costs were epilepsy, cirrhosis of the liver, and lip and oral cavity cancer, and those contributing to the inpatient costs were tuberculosis, alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, and cirrhosis of the liver. On the other hand, the diseases contributing to the outpatient costs among women were traffic accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and breast cancer, whereas alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, cirrhosis of the liver, and hemorrhagic and other nonischemic strokes contribute to the inpatient costs (Komonpaisarn, 2019).…”