The costs of smoking in Vietnam: the case of inpatient care.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the social costs of smoking related to inpatient care in Vietnam using 2005 data.


METHODS
The cost of illness as a result of hospitalisation for three major smoking-related diseases combined with the prevalence-based approach to obtain the costs of smoking in Vietnam for inpatient care.


METHODS
Smoking-attributable costs of inpatient care for lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and ischaemic heart disease.


RESULTS
The total cost of inpatient health care caused by smoking in Vietnam reached at least 1 161 829 million Vietnamese dollars ($VN) (or $US 77.5 million) in 2005. This represents about 0.22% of Vietnam gross domestic product (GDP) and 4.3% of total healthcare expenditure. The majority of these expenses are related to COPD treatment ($VN 1,033541 million or $US 68.9 million per year) followed by lung cancer ($VN 78,143 million, or $US 5.2 million per year) and ischaemic disease ($VN 50,145 million, or $US 3.3 million per year). The government directly finances about 51% of these costs. The rest is financed either by households (34%) or by the insurance sector (15%).


CONCLUSIONS
The social costs of smoking in Vietnam as the percentage of GDP is lower compared to estimates from high-income countries. The true costs would be substantially higher if all smoking-related diseases, outpatient care and mortality-related costs are included. More research is needed to augment the estimates presented in this paper.
Epidemiology and Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society, 250 Williams Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303-1002, USA. hana.ross@cancer.org
Hana
H
Ross
Dang Vu
DV
Trung
Vu Xuan
VX
Phu
D000368:Aged; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology