Macroeconomic impacts of non communicable diseases related to Tobacco in Senegal
INTRODUCTION
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), for which tobacco is one of the major risk factors, are the leading cause of death worldwide. They contributed to 68% of the 56 million deaths in 2012. These deaths are more concentrated in low- and middle-income countries. In Senegal, health statistics show that the proportion of deaths due to these diseases is rising relatively high. From 28% in 2000, this proportion rose to 47% in 2015. In doing so, 8 of the top 10 causes of death in hospitals are attributed to them. Apart from the suffering they cause, these diseases generate significant macroeconomic burden. The assessments generally made of these losses are limited to the determination of annual costs caused by NCDs. However, if these assessments are not supplemented by the one taking into account the opportunities in terms of economic production that these losses have not allowed to achieve, the full extent of the impact of smoking on the economy would not be actually known. CRES has completed its annual assessment of annual costs through research measuring economic losses in the long run. This policy brief presents the main results achieved and their implications.