Smoking attributable mortality and economic costs in Alaska 1992-94

Tobacco is one of the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and Alaska. Alaska has one of the highest smoking prevalences. The Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Cost software developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was used to estimate the deaths and economic impact due to smoking in Alaska. In Alaska during the three year period 1992-94, 1416 deaths were estimated to be attributable to smoking, accounting for 19.8% of the 7159 deaths during that time. Direct medical care costs in 1993 due to smoking related illnesses were estimated at $96.5 million. Additional smoking related costs include an indirect mortality cost of $81.61 million and indirect morbidity cost of $15.94 million. The total economic cost attributable to smoking related illness for 1993 is estimated at $194 million [corrected]. In summary, for the time period 1992-94, smoking was estimated to result in 470 deaths per year and in economic costs of almost $300 million per year.