Bengaluru: Second-hand smoking accounts for 567 billion economic costs in India!

BENGALURU: A new study published in the Journal of Nicotine and Tobacco Research has, for the first time, quantified the tremendous economic burden of second-hand smoke exposure in India. According to the findings, the annual direct economic costs attributable to "Second-Hand Smoking in India" amounted to Rs 567 billion. This accounts for 8 percent of total annual health care expenditure on top of the staggering Rs 1773.4 billion ($27.5 billion) in annual economic burden from tobacco use.

For the first time, this new study sheds light on the immense financial toll second-hand smoke takes on the Indian healthcare system. It also finds that the cost of second-hand smoke disproportionately affects India's most vulnerable populations, including women, youth, and those with lower incomes.

Researchers from the Rajagiri College of Social Sciences led by Renowned Economist and Health Policy Analyst Dr Rijo M John used public data sources and a prevalence-based attributable risk approach to quantify the healthcare cost of continued exposure to second-hand smoke among non-smokers aged 15 and above. The Rs 567 billion figure represents only one part of the total economic costs of second-hand smoke exposure. It does not include the additional indirect economic costs due to lost productivity, morbidity, and mortality caused by illness and early deaths arising from second-hand smoke exposure, that would further increase the final figure.

Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke kill nearly 1.2 million Indians each year. With more than 100 million smokers in India, non-smokers are exposed to second-hand smoke at home, at work, and in public places. There is no known safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke, a deadly mix of more than 7,000 chemicals that are known to cause premature death and disease in children and adults who do not smoke.

According to S J Chander, Convenor of Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka (CFTFK), "While India has made progress in reducing tobacco use, smoking continues to impose a drastic health and economic burden. India can save millions of lives and reduce this overwhelming burden through stronger tobacco control policies. Strengthening the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act to remove all designated areas from public places and raising taxes on all tobacco products will motivate millions of Indians to quit and prevent youngsters from initiating tobacco use".

"The findings demonstrate the terrible economic toll that secondhand smoke takes on both the Indian health care system and the second-hand smoke exposed to non-smokers. Those most affected by these costs are often the most economically vulnerable – women, young people, and those with lower incomes. Smoke free environment is an integral aspect of 'right to health'. The responsibility and liability of ensuring a smoke-free environment should be owned by every stakeholder, especially the hotels, restaurants and bars" said Renowned Oncologist and Member of Karnataka government's High-Power Committee on Tobacco Control Dr Vishal Rao.

"India needs to take strong measures to reduce its large number of smokers and the economic burden of treating tobacco-related diseases. Increasing tobacco taxes is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking, yet India has not had any significant tax increase on any tobacco products for the past four years. The current tobacco tax collected in India from all tobacco products combined is less than the Rs 567 billion in health care costs caused by exposure to second-hand smoke," according to Dr Rijo John, Renowned Economist and author of the study.

Dr John added that second-hand exposure continues to be high in India because of the vast number of smokers and the gaps in India's smoke-free law that still allow Designated Smoking Areas in public places like restaurants, bars, hotels, and airports. All the above experts recommend that India strengthen its laws to effectively protect non-smokers from the health and economic impact of second-hand smoke.