The Socioeconomic Effects of Tobacco Smoking

It is well known that tobacco smoking is an establishedor probable cause of many different diseases, and approximately four million people die every year from tobacco-related diseases. In Korea the estimation of the health care cost of smoking and direct and indirect economic loss from smoking in 1995 were over two trillion won and about 3.5 trillion won, respectively. Smoking and also passive smoking decrease the productivity of workers. Fires related to cigarette smoking are the leading cause of civilian fire deaths, and the health care cost for burn patients is also substantial. So it seems obvious that non-smoking would save health care-related money. However, previous studies have shown that it is difficult to determine whether the decrease of smoking population would save money. Smokers tend to suffer more from a large variety of diseases, but they die earlier than non-smokers. On the other hand, non-smokers tend to spend more money on health care because they live longer. Recent studies have suggested that smoking cessation saves health care costs in the short term. In the long run, however, smoking cessation would increase health care costs.