By Edward Makuzva

Cigarette smoking is not only the most common form of tobacco use but one of the leading preventable risk factors for premature mortality worldwide. Smoking kills more than 8 million people a year, including users and non-smokers being exposed to secondary smoke. Tobacco growing countries rely on sales, and banning smoking is not an option. The negative costs of tobacco use to health care are not analyzed in monetary costs. However, the impact is massive. Costs for treating diseases caused by tobacco use, for example, lung cancer, are a cause for concern.