In 2050, No Tobacco Month will have prevented 28,000 cancers and saved nearly 100 million in health costs per year.

Every year, in November, tens of thousands of French people take on the challenge of quitting smoking. There were 160,000 to participate in 2023. An operation which is bearing fruit in terms of public health and spending.

In 2050, No Tobacco Month will have prevented 28,000 cancers and saved nearly 100 million in health costs per year, reveals a projection carried out by Public Health France, reported by franceinfo, Tuesday November 12.

Santé Publique France has developed two scenarios: in the first, the operation is carried out from 2023 to 2050, in the second, nothing is done to encourage the French to stop smoking throughout the month of November. In the first scenario, the No Tobacco Month saves 107,000 years of life, as well as avoiding 241,000 cases of lower respiratory infections, 28,000 cancers, 18,000 cases of cardiovascular diseases, 8,000 cases of dementia and 4,000 cases of diabetes in total, over the period 2023-2050.

As for the return on investment for the tobacco-free month, one euro invested will have brought in seven euros in savings in health expenses, that is to say 94 million euros per year for an average annual cost of 12 million. Because tobacco causes a myriad of illnesses and causes work stoppages.

Another benefit for the economy: according to this projection, the diseases thus avoided will have made it possible “to increase employment and work productivity by 2,800 full-time equivalents per year, for an estimated value of 85 million euros“.

Methodology:

The study is based on the model for planning public health strategies for noncommunicable diseases developed by the OECD. The impact of the Tobacco Free Month intervention was estimated by comparing the results of a status quo scenario (without implementation of the intervention) with a scenario where Tobacco Free Month is implemented each year over the period. 2023-2050.