The collection of taxes on tobacco does not even cover a 30% of the yearly cost social security has in providing healthcare to those suffering from diseases resulting from cigarette consumption, revealed an investigated coordinated by the Clinical and Sanitary Effectivity Institute of Argentina and the Costa Rica Ministry of Health with the participation of the Costa Rican Social Security Authority (CCSS).

This study was also carried out in Ecuador, Honduras, Paraguay and Uruguay, and it evidenced that the direct expenses in the health systems that are a direct product of smoking cigarettes is extremely high.

Smoking, generates also an a direct annual cost of 129 thousand million colones, (around $233 million USD) which represents 0.47% of the country’s GNP and 4.8% of the total public health annual expense, according to the study.

On the other hand, the tax collection for cigarette sales is of close to 33.7 thousand million colones (around 61 million USD)
The investigation also suggests that a raise of a 10% in the price of cigarettes could avoid 340 deaths, 1,369 patients with heart conditions, 145 new cancer patients in a year, and 157 strokes in ten years.

In a period of ten years this could generate 55 thousand million colones (almost 100 million USD), product of the savings in sanitary expenses and the raise in tax collections, pointed the report.

Smoking is responsible for 12% of the deaths that register every year in Costa Rica, according to data by the Social Security Authority in Costa Rica (CCSS).

The years of life lost as a consequence of smoking are an average of 6 years in smokers and close to 3 years for former smokers.