title: Counting 15 million more poor in India, thanks to tobacco.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify the impact of tobacco use and the related medical expenditure on poverty in India.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tobacco expenditure and associated medical expenditure attributable to tobacco use were subtracted from the household monthly consumption expenditure in order to derive an appropriate measure of household disposable income. The 2004 National Sample Survey, a nationally representative survey of Indian households, was used to estimate the true level of poverty.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our estimates indicate that accounting for direct expenditure on tobacco would increase the rural and the urban poverty rates by 1.5% (affecting 11.8 million people) and 0.72% (affecting 2.3 million people), respectively. Similarly, the out-of-pocket costs of tobacco-attributable medical care result in 0.09% higher poverty rates in rural areas (affecting 0.7 million people) and in 0.07% higher poverty rates in urban locations (affecting 0.23 million people).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Tobacco consumption impoverishes roughly 15 million people in India. Hence tobacco control measures would not only improve public health, but would also reduce poverty in India.
authors.affiliation: International Tobacco Control, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA 30044, USA. rijo.john@cancer.org
authors.forename: Rijo M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Hai-Yen
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Wendy B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Max
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data