Dubai: Whether it's a lunch-time ciggie-break to escape the stress of the office, or a night time shisha session with friends, the cost of smoking takes a heavy toll on the health and bank balance of individuals, companies and society as a whole.
Suresh Puri, a pulmonologist at Wellcare Hospital in Garhoud, sees it week in, week out. He diagnoses around 25 men and women suffering from respiratory problems every day in Dubai. More than half are there because of smoking, he said.
Years of treatment and medication for such debilitating afflictions as heart and lung disease or smoking-related cancers, can run into hundreds of thousands of dirhams, Puri said.
Such costs are borne by companies and individuals and put serious strains on the healthcare system. Nearly half of the patients that Suri sees are without health insurance provided by their employers, he said.
While hard data is difficult to come by in the UAE, smoking's hidden costs are well documented elsewhere.
A recent study by public health experts from the Duke University and other American colleges has tackled this difficult issue.
Ask anyone whether they would like $100,000 (Dh367,000) and they would say yes quicker than a Dubai driver switches lanes without indicators. But that is exactly what smokers give up when they light up.
After tracking smokers over a number of years, the study found the cost of smoking for a 24-year-old woman is $86,000 (Dh315,000) over a lifetime. For a 24-year-old male smoker the cost is $183,000 (Dh671,000). Men smoke more than women, according to researchers.
And factoring in things like the loss of productivity and the effects of second hand smoke, the cost spirals further upwards. In total, the study claims, smoking will cost a woman $106,000 (Dh389,000) over her lifetime and a staggering $220,000 (Dh807,000) for a man. On this basis, the cost of each packet of cigarettes costs $40 (Dh146)
Other studies bolsters these claims. Among them, a recent report from the US Centres for Disease Control estimating that tobacco users cost US companies an average of $3,391 annually in lost productivity and medical costs. The CDC also found that smoking, the leading preventable cause of death in the US, cost the American economy nearly $94 billion yearly in lost productivity and an additional $89 billion on public and private healthcare.
American companies have begun to respond. A medical benefits company in Michigan drew a policy to no longer employ smokers, even firing several staffers for refusing breath tests. Alaska Airlines requires a nicotine test before hiring people, and Scotts Miracle-Gro has also pledged not to hire smokers.
Other US studies arrive at contrary conclusions, however. The Bureau of National Affairs, which publishes a healthcare journal, found 95 per cent of companies banning smoking report no financial savings, and the US Chamber of Commerce saw no link between smoking and absenteeism.
In the UAE, smoking is a cheap habit. A visit to the local grocery shop reveals a pack of cigarettes costs anywhere from one to Dh10. The same goes for shisha tobacco, which is potentially worse than cigarettes: a World Health Organisation study suggests a shisha session delivers as much smoke as from 100 cigarettes.
However, studies show higher taxes on tobacco sharply reduce smoking rates. As countries realise the economic and health impacts caused by smoking, more may consider taxing this harmful habit.
By Ivan Gale
© Gulf News 2006
