The Cost the Tobacco Industry Does Not Account For!

Abstract

Introduction: In Brazil, tobacco industry companies seek to maximize profits at the expense of a high disease and economic burden attributable to smoking. Objective: To estimate, based on the most recent national data on smoking behavior and the costs of tobacco-related diseases, the updated equivalence between the profit earned by the tobacco industry and the average cost to Brazilian society. Method: For the year 2019, two pieces of information from Brazil’s tobacco epidemic monitoring system were combined: (1) the equivalence between the gross profit of the tobacco industry and the deaths of smokers who contributed to generating this profit, with (2) the equivalence between the costs (both direct treatment costs and indirect costs) of tobacco-related diseases and deaths attributable to tobacco use. Results: For every R$1.0 of profit earned by the tobacco industry, Brazil spends 2.3 times that amount on the direct costs of treating tobacco-related diseases and 5.1 times that amount on the total costs of these diseases. Conclusion: It is essential to assess the impact of tobacco industry product sales on the current direct and indirect costs to Brazilian society in order to seek its accountability and compensation. A portion of the tobacco industry’s profit in Brazil may be allocated to initiatives that encourage smoking initiation among youth and children, ensuring the replacement of current users who will fall ill or die, thus also generating future costs.