All-Party Committee on Tobacco - page 1
ALL PARTY COMMITTEE ON TOBACCO CONTROL
Saskatchewan Public Health Association
Presentation to the All-Party Committee on Tobacco
Dr Tania Diener, Vice-President, SPHA
February 24, 2000
The Saskatchewan Public Health Association (SPHA) is a provincial organization whose mission is to promote the health of Saskatchewan people and their environment through education, advocacy and empowerment. SPHA’s Tobacco Action Committee - keeps members apprised of tobacco issues through its quarterly newsletter, mail outs to members, and reports and resolutions at annual meetings.
The effect of tobacco use in Saskatchewan
Over 1,600 Saskatchewan residents die each year from tobacco-related causes. That is one in five deaths.(1) Nationally, tobacco kills 45,000 Canadians yearly (21% of all deaths). Half of smokers die prematurely due to tobacco use. More people die from smoking than from traffic accidents, guns, AIDS and alcohol combined.
Health Burden
Smoking is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women, being responsible for almost one third of all cancer deaths in Saskatchewan. It also causes cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.(2) Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of delivering a low birth weight baby at increased risk of perinatal and neonatal death and long-term health and developmental problems.(3) Smokeless tobacco causes cancer and leads to nicotine addiction.
Second hand smoke, a Class A carcinogen as dangerous as benzene and asbestos, contains over 50 substances that cause cancer. Secondhand smoke also causes heart disease, lung and other cancers in nonsmokers.(4), (5) Children of parents who smoke have more acute respiratory illness and infections including chronic cough, bronchitis, tracheitis, laryngitis and pneumonia and impaired respiratory function compared with children of non-smoking parents.(6)
Economic Burden
Tobacco is an economic burden as well as a health burden. The total impact of tobacco use to Saskatchewan residents is conservatively estimated at $264.8 million per year in 1997 dollars. In contrast, the province of Saskatchewan collected $116.8 million from tobacco tax and another $23.8 million in sales tax from tobacco products in 1997. It is important to recognize revenues generated by tobacco are lower than the economic burden to the province. National figures are similar. Also, tax revenues go to general revenue and are not targeted to any specific program.(7) In 1996, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada prepared an analysis that showed that “the tax revenues received by Canadian governments (provincial) from the sale of cigarettes to underage smokers far exceeds the financial commitment of these governments to prevent children from smoking.”
Children are the Tobacco Industry’s Target
Because hundreds of thousands of Canadian smokers quit annually and over 45,000 are killed each year by tobacco industry products, the industry must make up these losses by encouraging more people to begin smoking. Children are basically the only new source of tobacco industry customers, since very few people begin smoking after the age of 18. Although the addictive nature of tobacco is known, it is less appreciated that “early addiction is the chief mechanism for renewing the pool of smokers”.(8) A 1999 Health Canada survey reported that Saskatchewan had the second highest percentage of youth smokers – 35%.(9)
The Saskatchewan Public Health Association (SPHA) commends all parties of the government on their efforts to reduce the legacy of disability and death tobacco provides to children and youth. SPHA strongly urges the government to develop a provincial tobacco reduction strategy to address the morbidity and mortality caused by tobacco use.
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