Nigeria ‘spends N526.4bn’ on treatment of smoking-related diseases

Nigeria’s healthcare system gups about N526.45 billion annually on treatment of smoking related diseases, according to a two-year research study conducted by Centre for The Study of The Economies of Africa (CSEA) in collaboration with Amaka Chiwne-Uba Foundation (ACUF).

The amount represents about 9.63 per cent of the nation’s total healthcare budget.

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In a presentation entitled “Health burden and economic cost of smoking in Nigeria,” during a workshop held on Thursday in Enugu, an Executive Director of CSEA, Dr. Chukwuka Onyekwena, disclosed that about 17 diseases are attributable to tobacco-smoking.

He listed the diseases to include oral and pharynx cancer, Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease and Unspecified Chronic Bronchitis, stomach cancer, pancreas cancer, lung cancer, Renal Pelvis cancer, Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Ischaemic heart disease, Pneumonia and Influenza, among others.

The workshop which was tagged: “Economics of Tobacco Control In Nigeria” was attended by major stakeholders in the health and other key sectors.

Onyekwena said the impact of mortality , morbidity and costs of smoking on the average Nigerian family that is still struggling to cross the poverty line is quite devastating, emphasisng that “we estimate 28,876 deaths attributable to smoking annually in Nigeria, a number that represents around 16 per cent of deaths from smoking-related diseases (183,883) and about five per cent of all cases of death.”

127,859 smoking related diseases annually

He further said among the diseases analysed, nearly 737,366 cases are expected yearly, of which 127,859 representing 17 per cent are attributable to cigarette consumption.

“In terms of costs, these conditions burden the Nigerian healthcare system with nearly N634 billion, of which N526.4 billion representing 83 per cent are smoking-attributable treatment costs,” he stated.

He explained that the research was inspired by the fact that the CSEA was always engaged in relevant issues that would touch on policy-making, noting that the issue of tobacco smoking, was a serious health challenge that “takes huge cost and it affects the health of the masses.”

He said the evidence provided after the research could lead policy-makers into discussions and actions that would help in reducing drastically cigarette-smoking and its health as well as economic implications on the citizens , especially among the youths.

The Founder and Chairman of ACUF, Dr. Chinweike Uba said a lot of studies had been conducted but not on the economic implications of tobacco-smoking in Nigeria.