Costs
Smoking costs global economy over US$1 trillion a year: study
http://www.ejinsight.com/20170110-smoking-costs-global-economy-over-us1-trln-a-year-says-new-study/
Smoking costs the global economy more than US$1 trillion a year, and will kill one third more people by 2030 than it does now, according to a new report released on Tuesday.
The World Health Organization and the US National Cancer Institute said in a study that the costs from smoking far outweigh global revenues from tobacco taxes, Reuters reports.
“The number of tobacco-related deaths is projected to increase from about 6 million deaths annually to about 8 million annually by 2030, with more than 80 percent of these occurring in LMICs (low- and middle-income countries),” the study said.
Around 80 percent of smokers live in such countries, and although smoking prevalence was falling among the global population, the total number of smokers worldwide is rising, it said.
Health experts say tobacco use is the single biggest preventable cause of death globally.
“It is responsible for… likely over $1 trillion in health care costs and lost productivity each year,” said the study, peer-reviewed by more than 70 scientific experts.
The economic costs are expected to continue to rise. Although governments have the tools to reduce tobacco use and associated deaths, most have fallen far short of using those tools effectively, WHO said in the report.
“Government fears that tobacco control will have an adverse economic impact are not justified by the evidence. The science is clear; the time for action is now.”
Cheap and effective policies include hiking tobacco taxes and prices, comprehensive smoke-free policies, complete bans on tobacco company marketing, and prominent pictorial warning labels.
Tobacco taxes could also be used to fund more expensive interventions such as anti-tobacco mass media campaigns and support for cessation services and treatments, it said.
Governments spent less than US$1 billion on tobacco control in 2013-2014, according to a WHO estimate.
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4 Tobacco Stats That Will Blow You Away
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/4-tobacco-stats-that-will-blow-you-away-cm727871
Investors in Altria Group (NYSE: MO) , Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI) , and other tobacco companies around the world understand the risks inherent in investing in the industry. Cigarettes have been demonstrated to have negative health impacts, and even big tobacco companies like Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) have started to respond to these potential harms by looking at alternatives to traditional cigarettes that carry reduced risks for consumers.
When you look at the numbers that government agencies, consumer advocates, and other anti-smoking groups provide, it’s easier to understand some of the challenges that cigarette makers face in sustaining their businesses. Let’s look at four particularly noteworthy statistics.
1. Potential international growth of 45% in two decades
Even advocates who are trying to stamp out smoking admit that they’re losing ground on a global scale. There are about 1.1 billion smokers in the world currently, according to the nonprofit group Action on Smoking & Health, and that number is expected to grow to 1.6 billion over the next 20 years.
In part, those numbers reflect the sluggish pace of regulation in areas where smoking is most likely to rise. Only a small fraction of countries have provisions like smoke-free laws, government services to support those seeking to quit smoking, and bans on advertising on tobacco products that are most likely to keep smoking rates down. As a result, those tobacco companies focusing on the international market have plenty of potential for growth.
2. Cigarette smoking kills 480,000 Americans annually
Tobacco use has long been the single largest preventable cause of death in the U.S., according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that more than 480,000 Americans die each year from smoking, with 41,000 of those deaths coming from the effects of secondhand smoke.
Most people think of lung cancer as the key cause of death related to smoking, but the practice has been linked to a host of other diseases — including respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes — and other adverse health effects. Government health advocates are convinced that the costs of encouraging smoking cessation are worth the savings those efforts produce.
3. The staggering economic costs of smoking
In addition to the number of deaths, the amount of money and resources that goes toward caring for those with smoking-related illnesses is surprisingly high. The CDC estimates that the direct costs of medical care in the U.S. for adults who need it because of tobacco products add up to almost $170 billion annually. In addition, lost productivity from workers who take time off due to smoking-related ailments brings the total cost above the $300 billion mark.
Smoking is a big enough cause of economic damage that the insurance industry makes smoking one of the key factors in determining premiums for life insurance.
Moreover, the difficulty of quitting smoking makes cessation products an extremely lucrative market, adding to potential revenue for businesses related to the practice.
4. Tobacco is still big business, despite downward pressures
Even with falling smoking volume in the U.S., the sheer amount of tobacco in the market is impressive. More than 24 billion cigarettes were produced in the U.S. market in October, the most recent month for which data from the Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau were available. So far in 2016, 233 billion cigarettes have been produced, along with almost 5.4 billion cigars, 100 million pounds of snuff, and roughly 50 million pounds of tobacco for chewing, pipe, or roll-your-own use.
Believe it or not, those figures are actually down considerably from year-ago figures. Cigarette use has dropped by about 10 billion units this year compared to this time last year; although smaller cigars have seen volumes rise, the bigger large-cigar market has seen drops of nearly 10%. That has resulted in sales-volume declines among large producers, but their ability to succeed speaks to the experience they have fighting such trends.
Tobacco companies have managed to overcome statistics like these and still produce growing profits over time. However, given the severity of some of these numbers, it’s understandable why even industry stalwarts are looking closely at reduced-risk alternatives in an effort to try to put some of these statistics behind them once and for all.
Do the right thing: Tax tobacco!
Both my grandfathers smoked when they were young. My father’s father was a shopkeeper who smoked a pipe and my mother’s father was a smallholder who smoked cigarettes. Both died of heart failure and left my grandmothers as widows. My father grew up as a little boy in an atmosphere of pipe smoke and sometimes I wonder whether this contributed to his asthma and his own heart problems. My mother became a doctor, a cancer specialist, and she always used to tell my brother and me that we should never smoke, because she saw every day what smoking had done to her patients.
http://blogs.worldbank.org/europeandcentralasia/do-right-thing-tax-tobacco
In Moldova, 87 percent of deaths are attributable to diseases associated with tobacco. I am not saying that tobacco caused them all, but these deaths are caused by diseases to which tobacco contributes. Also, in Moldova 43 percent of men smoke, while for women it is 5 percent. The worry is that nowadays a lot of the growth in smoking is among women.
It’s interesting that very many Moldovans begin to smoke when they are children. 30 percent of kids in class 8 or class 9 have already smoked a cigarette. And this is possible because smoking is so easy. It’s so cheap. It’s cheaper than buying a bottle of Coke or a chocolate bar. So obviously smoking is very attractive to young people in Moldova. We can discourage young people from beginning this dangerous and addictive habit by making cigarettes more expensive.
Smoking eats up 5 to 10 percent of the public health budget. That’s our estimate of the cost of treating diseases caused by smoking. The World Bank has looked at many scenarios of how raising tobacco taxes would increase Government revenues. Without going into details, it’s quite possible to raise at least an extra 1 percent of GDP.
So raising tobacco taxes could protect the lives of our children and grandchildren, save on health spending and raise revenues.
If somebody votes against increasing tobacco taxes, it could be for three reasons. Two of them are wrong. Only the third one is solid.
The first one is a fear that there might be political resistance to an increase in taxes. But anybody who opposes tobacco taxation for fear of the political resistance has to answer this question: “Can you find another way to improve the budget by at least one percent of GDP which would create less political resistance?” One could raise VAT or income tax, but that would be politically even more difficult than increasing tax on tobacco.
The second reason for opposition to an increase in tobacco taxes would be for fear of smuggling. We know about smuggling. We know how cigarettes enter Moldova through Transnistria. Maybe two or three years ago this argument would have been convincing. But now, Moldova and Ukraine have made significant progress in border cooperation and have monitoring systems which make this business much more difficult – if there is political will.
There is only one strong reason for opposing an increase in tobacco taxation. And that is because one is influenced by the tobacco lobby. The only real source of resistance to an increase in tobacco taxation is the tobacco industry. I therefore think that it is the obligation of anyone who blocks an increase in tobacco taxation to explain to the population why they are so opposed to it.
From a speech by Alex Kremer, World Bank Country Manager for Moldova, at Moldova’s parliament on 6 December 2016.
Major tobacco firms are appealing a landmark $15B ruling they lost
https://www.thestar.com/business/2016/11/21/major-tobacco-firms-are-appealing-a-landmark-15b-ruling-they-lost.html
Three major tobacco firms are appealing a landmark $15 billion Superior Court ruling they lost in June 2015.
Lawyers for Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans-Benson & Hedges began arguments today during hearings that are expected to last until the end of the week.
The companies were targeted by two separate lawsuits heard at the same time that were filed in 1998 and only went to trial in 2012.
They were sued by people who were addicted to cigarettes and couldn’t quit as well as by those who had suffered from cancer or emphysema.
Some 76 witnesses testified and nearly 43,000 documents were deposited as evidence, including internal tobacco company documents that showed smokers didn’t know or understand the risks associated with cigarettes.
Cigarette companies argued their customers knew the risks of smoking and that their products were sold legally and were strictly regulated by the federal government.
The same cigarette companies are also being sued by the Quebec government in a $60-billion lawsuit aiming to recover health care costs related to smokers.
Our Opinion: Addressing the economic costs of addiction
http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/opinion/our_opinion/our-opinion-addressing-the-economic-costs-of-addiction/article_7312db39-6708-5fd1-8952-98726c75a2c8.html
Two recent studies offer proof that Indiana’s battle with tobacco and opioid addictions goes far beyond impacting public health; there are real economic consequences, too.
The studies, released by the Fairbanks Foundation and conducted by IUPUI’s Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, show addictions cost Indiana more than $8.2 billion a year.
The toll from tobacco alone comes to US$6.8 billion when taking into account health care costs, the impact of secondhand smoke, lost productivity on the job and other smoking-related diseases. The studies also found that opioid overdose deaths also cost the state $1.4 billion in 2014.
Indiana is not doing enough when it comes to addressing these critical health care issues. The state has shortchanged itself when it comes to tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The General Assembly has continually raided money intended to pay for smoking cessation efforts and public initiatives aimed at helping smokers. In 2014, lawmakers cut tobacco prevention and control funding to $5.8 million, which is about 7.8 percent of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends spending to help Hoosiers kick the habit.
For the first time in at least six years, drug overdose deaths in 2015 in St. Joseph County outnumbered murders and fatal auto crashes combined, driven by a dramatic increase in lethal overdoses linked to heroin and related opiate painkillers.
Some say the studies represent increasing attention being paid to these issues. That’s good if that’s indeed the case. These deadly addictions can only be treated if they’re addressed openly with help from both the private and public sectors. It’s not only a critical public health issue, it’s also important for the economic vitality of Hoosiers.
REP. HUNTER, WHO TOOK $42,000 FROM TOBACCO INDUSTRIES, PUSHES TO ALLOW FREE TOBACCO FOR TROOPS
http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/rep-hunter-who-took-42000-tobacco-industries-pushes-allow-free-tobacco-troops
Tobacco poses serious health risks U.S. troops and veterans, costing our military $1.6 billion a year for medical treatment of smoking-related illnesses. The military in recent steps has taken steps to discourage tobacco use and encourage soldiers to kick the habit and save lives.
But now Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) is fighting to allow tobacco companies to give free cigars to U.S. military personnel. Hunter has taken $42,011 from the tobacco industry since 2010, including over $13,511 for his 2016 campaign, according to Open Secrets.
Asked about threats posed by tobacco to soldiers’ lives and health, as well as the high costs of caring for veterans suffering from tobacco-related illnesses, Hunter stated, “I don’t care. When it comes to guys overseas fighting, I don’t care,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Hunter, a combat veteran and former artillery officer, has said he believes tobacco helps calm nerves of soldiers and improve morale in high-stress situations. Hunter has said he smoked while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has since switched to vaping (electronic cigarettes) and occasionally cigars.
In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control found that 29% of veterans were smokers and that the smoking rate among those who served in combat could be as high as 50%, U.S. Medicine reported. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is four times higher than in the general population and 80% of COPD deaths are due to smoking, Dr. David Au, an investigator in the Veterans Administration Northwest Center of Excellence.
Tobacco related illnesses can also weaken combat readiness of troops, the Defense Department has said. Before health dangers were widely known, the military used to put free cigarettes in field rations, but halted that practice over 40 years ago.
In the past, tobacco companies routinely gave cigarettes and other tobacco products to U.S. soldiers, an action that led many soldiers to become addicted to nicotine, costing countless lives.
A new Food and Drug Administration regulation that just took effect bars tobacco companies from giving away products and imposes fines for violations. Hunter, in a letter to the FDA, Hunter wrote,” It would be unacceptable for the FDA to prohibit the distribution of tobacco products to service members who are fighting to protect those very rights that may be restricted.”
This isn’t Hunter’s first outspoken action on behalf of smokers. In February, he drew controversy for vaping on the House floor to argue against a ban on e-cigarettes on airplanes, CNN reported, with video.
But with the health hazards of smoking well known and US$42,000 in tobacco industry donations lining his campaign coffers, the burning question remains: just whose interest is Rep. Hunter truly representing?
Health costs of smoking may be higher than tobacco profit
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/09/06/health-costs-of-smoking-may-be-higher-than-tobacco-profit.html
Quitting smoking is hard as cigarettes contain nicotine, an addictive substance in tobacco that fuels cravings. After smoking, the brain becomes dependent on the nicotine and has thus rewired itself.
Because of this physical dependency, if a person stops smoking for a period of time, they will start experiencing symptoms of withdrawal. This is the brain and body adjusting to no longer having nicotine in the system.
But quitting smoking in a country like Indonesia, where 67 percent of men smoke, poses a different kind of challenge altogether.
After smokers overcome their withdrawal symptoms, such as anger and anxiety, they still have to face the last stage of overcoming nicotine addiction, which is reinforcement.
“The reinforcement challenges in Indonesia are very strong. People who have quit smoking will start smoking again once they see their neighbors smoking and smell the smoke. They might also see cigarette ads and start smoking again,” Widyastuti Soerojo of the Public Health Scholars Association (IAKMI) told The Jakarta Post.
This has led to an extremely low quit ratio for smokers in Indonesia. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the quitting ratio for men in Indonesia is only 9 percent, while it is 23.2 percent in women.
Lioni Hendrawaty, a 30-year-old NGO worker, is an example of someone who finds that the temptation to smoke again after quitting is too much to resist.
She has been a smoker for 14 years. Throughout that time, she had tried repeatedly to quit smoking.
She said that she noticed her breathes getting shorter and so she was afraid that her habit would eventually kill her.
Lioni was diagnosed in 2014 with hypothyroid, a common disorder in which the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone. “Since I was diagnosed, every time I smoke, my heart beats faster. It’s uncomfortable,” she told the Post.
Consequently, she was told by her doctor to stop smoking as her smoking habit would only exacerbate her illness.
But it turns out that being ill is not enough for someone like Lioni to stop smoking.
“Actually I had succeeded in reducing my cigarette consumption to once a day. At the most, I smoke three cigarettes in one day,” she said.
Therefore, it is important to make smoking not normal and not cool as the stakes are too high for Indonesia.
Though the government often argues that the tobacco industry brings much-needed revenue to the country, with it targeting to collect Rp 148.86 trillion from tobacco excise this year, the economic loss from tobacco consumption is actually much greater.
In 2013, the total loss due to tobacco consumption hit Rp 378.75 trillion, according to the Health Ministry, resulting from lost productivity due to illness, disability and premature death in youth and medical expenses.
Indonesia’s economy is also expected to lose Rp 59,580 trillion (US$4.5 trillion) by 2030 from tobacco-related diseases.
The University of Indonesia’s demographic institute associate director, Abdillah Ahsan, said Indonesians are having the hardest time to quit smoking because smoking is already considered normal in the country.
Smokers who want to quit will be constantly seduced by everyone who smokes around them as well as by pervasive cigarette advertisements.
“Access to cigarettes is very easy. If I live in a housing complex, I will find a small stall selling cigarettes just a few houses from me. It’s also easy for children to buy cigarettes. If they step out of their schools, they will find a warung. Above the warung will be a banner advertising cigarettes,” Abdillah said.
Furthermore, public officials are often shown to be smoking in public spaces, such as lawmakers around the parliament building.