Economic burden of nicotine dependence during COVID-19

Abstract

Tobacco kills more than 8 million people globally every year. Tobacco adversely affects the individual and family, adding to the economic burden. More than 7 million deaths are directly related to nicotine use and around 1.2 million are due to passive smoking, which is exposure by nonsmokers. Tobacco smoking is a known risk factor for numerous physical health diseases particularly respiratory diseases and psychiatric conditions. COVID-19 pandemic has caused an additional burden on people's health and economic life across the world. There is hardly any data about the economic impact of tobacco use during the pandemic. Here, we report a case to estimate the economic cost of nicotine use during COVID-19 and treatment expenditure at tertiary care hospitals.