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  • A comprehensive economic as...
    Nargis, Nigar; Faruque, Golam Mohiuddin; Ahmed, Maruf; Huq, Iftekharul; Parven, Rehana; Wadood, Syed Naimul; Hussain, AKM Ghulam; Drope, Jeffrey

    Tobacco control, 11/2022, Volume: 31, Issue: 6
    Journal Article

    BackgroundDespite modest progress in reducing tobacco use, tobacco remains one of the major risk factors for non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh.MethodsUsing disease-specific, prevalence-based, cost-of-illness approach, this research estimated the economic costs of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke based on data collected from a nationally representative survey of 10 119 households in 2018.ResultsThe study estimated that 1.5 million adults were suffering from tobacco-attributable diseases and 61 000 children were suffering from diseases due to exposure to secondhand smoke in Bangladesh in 2018. Tobacco use caused 125 718 deaths in that year, accounting for 13.5% of all-cause deaths. The total economic cost was 305.6 billion Bangladeshi taka (BDT) (equivalent to 1.4% of gross domestic product or US$3.61 billion), including direct costs (private and public health expenditures) of BDT83.9 billion and indirect costs (productivity loss due to morbidity and premature mortality) of BDT221.7 billion. The total economic cost of tobacco more than doubled since 2004.ConclusionTobacco use imposes a significant and increasing disease and financial burden on society. The enormous tobacco-attributable healthcare costs and productivity loss underscore the need to strengthen the implementation of tobacco control policies to curb the epidemic.