Economic Cost of Tobacco-Related Diseases in Nigeria: a Study of three Hospitals in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

Costs of tobacco-related disease can be useful evidence for important macroeconomic health policy. The costs can be enormous given that tobacco-related diseases have major adverse effect on the quality of life and productivity of affected individuals. This is the gap in tobacco-related research in Nigeria that this paper attempted to fill. This paper provides estimates of economic costs of four active tobacco-related diseases in Nigeria. This paper is a hospital-based study which utilized an exploratory survey carried out between March to September 2010 to assess and document different components of economic costs of tobacco-related diseases within the Ibadan metropolis, South West Nigeria. A structured questionnaire form was used to collect data on tobacco smoking behaviour, as well as direct and indirect costs associated with outpatient visits and hospitalization. Using the prevalence-based method of the cost of illness (COI) approach, the paper estimated that the mean total direct and indirect costs during hospitalization period were $3,142 and $2,322.95 for Stroke or Transient Ischemic attack and lung cancer respectively while the costs were$1,445.24 and $741.43 for COPD and tuberculosis respectively (in term of dollars). The paper found that direct and indirect costs were mainly paid by out of pocket by the victims and their respective families. The results further reveal that the high cost of the disease can be catastrophic for individuals from poor households. The paper thus concludes that anti-smoking measures to avoid tobacco-related diseases can reduce the economic costs of the disease