Burden of Cancers Related to Smoking among the Indonesian Population: Premature Mortality Costs and Years of Potential Life Lost

Background: As smoking is the leading preventable cause of multiple diseases and premature cancer deaths,estimating the burden of cancer attributable to smoking has become the standard in documenting the adverseimpact of smoking. In Indonesia, there is a dearth of studies assessing the economic costs of cancers related tosmoking. This study aimed to estimate indirect mortality costs of premature cancer deaths and years of potentiallife lost (YPLL) attributable to smoking among the Indonesian population. Materials and
Methods: A prevalencebased method was employed. Using national data, we estimated smoking-attributable cancer mortality in 2013.Premature mortality costs and YPLL were estimated by calculating number of cancer deaths, life expectancy,annual income, and workforce participation rate. A human capital approach was used to calculate the presentvalue of lifetime earnings (PVLE). A discount rate of 3% was applied.
Results: The study estimated that smokingattributable cancer mortality was 74,440 (30.6% of total cancer deaths), comprised of 95% deaths in men and 5%in women. Cancers attributed to smoking wereresponsible for 1,207,845 YPLL. Cancer mortality costs causedby smoking accounted for USD 1,309 million in 2013. Among all cancers, lung cancer is the leading cause ofdeath and economic burden.
Conclusions: Cancers related to smoking pose an enormous economic burden inIndonesia. Therefore, tobacco control efforts need to be prioritized in order to prevent more losses to the nation.The data of this study are important for advocating national tobacco control policy.