Summary of Problem
Cigarette smoking is considered the single most significant cause of preventable disease and death in the United States
(www.cdc.gov/tobacco/; Mokdad, et al., 2000;
McGinnis & Foege, 1993).

According to the World Health Organization there are currently over 1.2 billion smokers and approximately five million deaths worldwide from tobacco annually
(Corrao et al., 2000; Schroeder, 2005).

Approximately 440,000 people die each year in the United States from diseases directly attributable to smoking. On average, smokers die thirteen to fourteen years before non-smokers. In fact, 20% of all coronary heart disease deaths (heart attacks) are blamed on cigarette smoking. Furthermore, 38% of all cancer deaths in men and 23% of all cancer deaths in women are related to cigarettes. This does not include cigar, pipes, smokeless tobacco use, or the approximate 70,000 deaths each year in the U.S. due to exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), 2005; Mitchell, Sobel, Alexander, 1999; Schroeder, 2005; Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2005).

An estimated 25 million Americans who are alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, including 5 million people younger than 18. The National Cancer Institute indicates that in the United States, 52% of deaths from all causes among male current smokers are attributable to cigarette smoking. Among female current smokers, 43% of deaths from all causes are attributable to smoking
(NCI Monograph 8, 1997).

The list of diseases caused by smoking has been expanded to include abdominal aortic aneurysm,
acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, pneumonia,
periodontitis, and stomach cancer. These are in addition to diseases previously known to be
caused by smoking, including bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers,
chronic lung diseases, coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases, as well as reproductive effects
and sudden infant death syndrome (CDC, 2004).
 

(Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [MMWR], 2005)

Economic Costs

The direct healthcare cost associated with smoking in 1998 was approximately $75.5 billion in the United States. Additional costs associated with lost productivity and earnings as a result of illness, disability, and death from smoking were estimated to be an additional $92 billion in the form of lost productivity each year (from 1997-2001), up about $10 billion from the annual mortality related productivity losses for the years 1995-1999. The economic toll of smoking is more than $167 billion each year in the U.S. (CDC, 2005; Herman, Hewitt, Lashober, 1993).

For an interactive animated program on The Health Consequences of Smoking on The Human Body please see: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/sgranimation/flash/index.html