[Health related costs of smoking from the viewpoint of the Health Insurance Fund in Hungary].

UNLABELLED

In recent times, the topic of smoking has been extensively debated in Hungary. A new Act has been issued for the protection of non-smokers and for the regulation of tobacco product distribution.

AIMS

The aim of the authors was to examine the economic burden of smoking on the society.

METHODS

According to wildly accepted estimates, 30% of the Hungarian population smokes. Smoking leads to the development of several diseases, for example, it is responsible for 90% of lung cancer cases.

RESULTS

17.2% of the curative-preventive costs and 15% of the pharmaceutic costs are estimated to be spent on the health damages caused by smoking. In 2009, the Health Insurance Fund had to spend approximately 174.6 billion HUF for health damages including sick leave costs caused by smoking. Working days lost (patients on sick list) as a consequence of smoking decreased the GDP of Hungary by around 95 billion HUF in the same year. Literature suggests that smoking leads to a loss of approximately seven life years. Shortened life span might cause 594.9 billion HUF loss to the Hungarian economy not to mention the economical and emotional loss of the individual families.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors estimated a total of 864.4 billion HUF loss to the Hungarian economy due to smoking.