(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) A report published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said smoking was estimated to cost the United States $96 billion in direct medical expenses and $97 billion in lost productivity annually.
Further, Federal health officials estimate 443,000 US adults died in 2010 from smoking-related illnesses - the single largest preventable cause of death.
The CDC's Office on Smoking and Health used data from the National Health Interview Survey to estimate current national cigarette smoking prevalence.
The findings indicated 19% of US adults - 43.8 million - smoked cigarettes in 2011, down from 19.3% in 2010. Among daily smokers, the proportion who smoked more than 30 cigarettes per day declined significantly from 12.6 % in 2005 to 9.1 % in 2011, but the proportion of those who smoked one to nine cigarettes per day increased significantly, from 16.4% to 22%, the report said.
Of the 43.8 million cigarette smokers on 2011, 77.8% smoked every day, and 22.2% smoked some days. Secondhand smoke costs more than $10 billion (i.e., health care expenditures, morbidity, and mortality).
Overall, among current smokers and those who had quit during the preceding year, 51.8% made a quit attempt for more than one day during the preceding year, the report said.
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