Leading Killer in California
While there are fewer smokers in California than a decade ago, recent studies have revealed that smoking is still a massive problem for public health.
Researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) put together a county-by county report over a three year period (1999-2009) which details the cost of smoking. The final number was a staggering $18.1 billion. This included direct healthcare costs (hospital care, ambulatory care, nursing home care, prescriptions and home health care) and indirect costs (productivity loss due to premature death). If you break that down by person it equates to $487 per person each year. Overall, there are roughly 3.9 million people smoking in California; 146,000 of those smokers are adolescents aged 12-17.
Smoking-related illnesses have accounted for more deaths and health care costs in California than AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and several other health conditions.
Cancer has now surpassed cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of smoking-attributed death. In 2009, over 20,500 deaths were attributed to smoking, with an additional nearly 800 adult deaths as a result of second hand smoke.
All forms of tobacco contain high concentrations of cancer-causing agents, and these substances subject users to increased cancer risk not only of the oral cavity, but also the pharynx, larynx and esophagus.
For more information, see the full report at http://qa.trdrp.org/files/cost-smoking-ca-final-report.pdf.
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