Health Economic Costs of Tobacco Smoking in Canada

Health Economic Costs of Tobacco Smoking in Canada

Introduction

This paper is about the use of tobacco in Canada. The paper will also identify the economic and health costs of using tobacco in Canada. There will also be a discussion of tobacco smoking prevention. The paper will follow a proper pattern. There are several concerns about tobacco smoking in Canada. The government is very concern about this issue and working really hard to get rid of this dangerous habit. The Canadian population is addict to this unhealthy habit of tobacco smoking (Albert Health Services, 2012).

Discussion

Tobacco smoking is really injurious to health. The smoke of tobacco contains several dangerous chemical. These chemicals are injurious to both smokers and nonsmokers. There are more than 7,000 chemicals in the tobacco smoke. Al large amount of them, around 250 chemicals, are very harmful. These harmful chemicals include carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and ammonia. The habit of tobacco smoking is very dangerous for health. It affects almost every organ and part of the body. The ultimate impact of smoking is the diminishing of overall health (Propel, 2012).

Health Consequences of Smoking

There are millions of Canadian who smoking has caused lots of problems. It is also the primary cause of cancer. This cancer even leads to death. It cause causes to several parts of the body including lungs, larynx, throat, mouth, kidney, pancreas, bladder, and stomach. It also causes heart deceases and heart stroke. The habitual smokers are at higher risk that they develop airway infections and pneumonia (Schane et al, 2010). If a smoker is pregnant then there are heavy chances that she might give too early birth, and the birth weight may also be very low. A female smoker who smokes before or after the birth of her child may put her child at the risk of Sudden death.

Economic Costs of Smoking

The cost of smoking is usually referred to the difference between two types of costs. One is the cost in case of prevalence of smoking and the other cost is the cost when there had been no smoking. The costs if smoking is calculated by subtracting these costs. There are usually two distinct types of costs associated with the tobacco smoking. One is the direct cost and the other is the indirect cost. Direct cost includes the cost of those tobacco services and goods that involve a monetary exchange. This direct cost usually takes place at the market place. Indirect cost refers to those losses that have no exchange of money. This cost includes the loss to valuable time due to the disability and illness due to smoking. The other indirect cost may be the premature loss of lives (WHO, 2011).

Direct Costs

This cost include the monetary costs occurred due the illness caused by smoking related activities. The other form of direct cost is the monetary cost of tobacco services and goods consumed. We have to make payments in the direct cost of smoking. Some of the direct costs of ...