Cigarette smoking costs Manitoba’s public healthcare system an extra $244 million a year, according to a new study from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy.
The report also shows that the percentage of Manitobans who smoke is steadily dropping. In 1989, 22% of Manitobans smoked daily and 65% were casual or former smokers. By 2011, these numbers were 14% and 42%, respectively.
The authors linked 45,000 Manitobans’ survey responses on smoking with records of their use of health services to measure the added financial burden of smoking on the Manitoba’s healthcare system.
The study used information on health service use spanning 23 years, from 1989 to 2012.
Original paper published by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy in May, 2015.
