Estimating the Burden of Cancers Attributable to Smoking Using Disability Adjusted Life Years in Indonesia

Tobacco use is a well-established risk factor for many types of cancers. Recent data on selected cancer incidence and mortality related to smoking in the Indonesian population are provided in this study. Morbidity and mortality data were derived from GLOBOCAN 2012 and the population attributable fraction (PAF) was estimated using the standard methodology developed by the World Health Organization. Using these data, we calculated disability adjusted life year (DALY) values for smoking-related cancer. The DALY was estimated by summation of the years lived with disability (YLD) and years life lost due to premature death (YLL). The cancer cases related to smoking in Indonesia numbered 45,132, accounting for 35,580 cancer deaths. The morbidity and mortality of lung cancer can be considered as the highest priority in both men and women. Furthermore the greatest YLD due to smoking in Indonesian men and women were from pancreas and lung cancers. For YLL among men, the highest years lost were from lung and liver cancers. On the other hand, among women lung oral cavity and lip were most important. Based on the DALY indicator, burden priorities for Indonesian men were lung cancer (298,980), liver cancer (60,367), and nasopharynx (46,185), while among Indonesian women they were lung cancer (34,119), cervix uteri (9,213) and pancreas cancer (5,433). In total, Indonesian burden of cancers attributed to smoking was 638,682 DALY. This study provides evidence about the burden of cancers caused by smoking as a rational basis for initiating national tobacco control policies in Indonesia.