May 31, 2024- World No Tobacco Day
GAZETTE
The treatment of lung cancer, the type of cancer that causes the most deaths in Argentina and that especially affects people who smoke or have smoked, costs the national health system more than $556 million per year, which represents that 1 in every 5 dollars allocated to cancer treatment goes to that disease. A substantial part of this amount corresponds to the cost of medication and - to a lesser extent - hospitalization costs when the tumor is diagnosed in advanced stages, which reaffirms the importance of adopting measures against smoking and suggests that Early detection could save economic resources and improve patient survival.
The data is disseminated in line with the World No Tobacco Day, which is commemorated this 31 May, and arise from a modeling study carried out in 2023 and conducted by researchers of the Institute of Clinical and Health Effectiveness (IECS), an academic institution affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). The work has just been published in the specialized magazine Public Health. (See study here) and takes on special importance within the framework of World Day because it has been estimated that About 80% of lung cancer cases can be attributed to the use of tobacco products.
“It is well known that the earlier a cancer is detected, the better the prognosis. What is not known or made explicit is that early detection can also lead to substantial savings in health resources. And lung cancer is a notable example: according to our study, treating it in advanced stages costs 10 times more than to do it in early stages, when the prospects for better clinical results or less impact on quality of life are greater,” said the research leader, Dr. Andrea Alcaraz, master in Clinical Effectiveness and coordinator of IECS Health Technology Assessment. The specialist also specified that the 556 million dollars annually represent 19 percent of what Argentina spends on treating all types of cancer.
To reach this conclusion, Dr. Alcaraz and her colleagues carried out mathematical modeling to estimate the burden of disease and direct medical costs attributable to lung cancer, taking as input local statistics, data from international sources such as the World Observatory of the Cancer and a review of the literature.
Considering that, approximately, each year there are 10.000 deaths, 12.000 new cases and 14.000 patients living with the disease, the economic burden of lung cancer in Argentina in 2023 was estimated at US$556,2 million, which represents 1,4% of the country's total health spending.
“Lung cancer is not the most common in Argentina (it is the fifth in women and the second in men, excluding skin cancers), but It is the one that produces the most deaths and the one that consumes the most resources", highlighted Dr. Carla Colaci, master in Clinical Effectiveness (UBA) and researcher of the study.
It has been estimated that around 80% of lung cancer cases can be attributed to the use of tobacco products, which also has many other negative impacts on health and the economy. In 2023, another IECS study calculated that, in 2020, smoking caused 44.758 deaths in Argentina, of which a third correspond to lung cancer and other tumors, followed by cardiovascular diseases (27,3%) and obstructive pulmonary disease. chronic or COPD (20,4%). Likewise, more than 225.000 people became ill that year, all of which implied a cost of 5.321 million dollars in direct medical expenses, caregivers and loss of productivity, which represents 1,3% of GDP and 7,2% of what Argentina allocates disease care.
This year, the PAHO/WHO theme for World No Tobacco Day is “protect children from tobacco industry interference”, including the incessant marketing of their dangerous products through social media and streaming platforms.
EXPENSES FOR FAMILIES
In another related study that was funded by the National Cancer Institute (INC), And whose results are currently in pre-print format, Dr. Alcaraz and colleagues evaluated in 3 public hospitals in Buenos Aires and La Plata the real experience of 101 consecutive patients diagnosed with lung cancer, 58% in advanced stage. They verified that 54,5% of the participants reported a reduction in income due to the illness, 20% lost their job, and 70% reported “financial toxicity,” or out-of-pocket expenses to cope with care that seriously impacted or exceeded the economic capacity to cope.
"The impact on the family of lung cancer is very significant. "It often affects people of productive age who lose their jobs or their income decreases, and who have to ask for money or go into debt to face catastrophic expenses," summarized the Dr. Federico Augustovski, the other principal investigator of the work and director of the Department of Health Technology Assessment and Health Economics of the IECS.
Although The best lung cancer prevention strategy is for people not to smoke, there are also proposals to carry out periodic examinations in the at-risk population with low radiation tomography to promote early detection. Although in Argentina there are still no published studies that demonstrate that its use is cost-effective, in several countries around the world it has proven to be so, and some health centers and provinces have already started programs with that objective.
“Given the increasing incidence of lung cancer, Countries must be prepared to continue translating research into real-world practice, improving prevention policies, supporting equitable access to healthcare, improving the effectiveness of healthcare services, and increasing public awareness. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the substantial impact of lung cancer on global health and has undertaken initiatives focused on tobacco control, cancer prevention, early detection and improving access to high-quality, cost-effective treatment,” the authors concluded.
ABOUT IECS:
The IECS is an independent academic institution dedicated to research, education and technical cooperation in health. Founded in 2002, it is an institution affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) that is home to a CONICET executing unit, a WHO Collaborating center and a Cochrane Center.
The mission of the IECS is “to contribute to improving global health, generating and promoting the application of the best scientific evidence.”
In 2018, the IECS was honored by the WHO for its work against the tobacco pandemic in Latin America. See here
See institutional video here Visit institutional website at: www.iecs.org.ar
IECS PRESS CONTACT: Lic. Mariana Comolli, Coordinator of the Communication Unit mcomolli@iecs.org.ar