Smoking-attributable mortality in Morocco: results of a prevalence-based study in Casablanca

Nabil Tachfouti; Chantal Raherison; Adil Najdi; Majdouline Obtel; Ahmed Rguig; Amina Idrissi Azami; Chakib Nejjari

doi:10.1186/2049-3258-72-23

Smoking-attributable mortality in Morocco: results of a prevalence-based study in Casablanca

Arch Public Health. 2014 Jul 1;72(1):23. doi: 10.1186/2049-3258-72-23. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Nabil Tachfouti¹, Chantal Raherison², Adil Najdi³, Majdouline Obtel⁴, Ahmed Rguig⁴, Amina Idrissi Azami⁵, Chakib Nejjari³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Epidemiology, Clinical Research and Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Fez 30000, Morocco ; INSERM U897, ISPED, University Bordeaux Segalen, 33076 Bordeaux, France.
² INSERM U897, ISPED, University Bordeaux Segalen, 33076 Bordeaux, France ; Department of Respiratory Diseases, CHU, Bordeaux 33604, France.
³ Laboratory of Epidemiology, Clinical Research and Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Fez 30000, Morocco.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Avenue Ibn Sina, 10080 Rabat, Morocco.
⁵ Epidemiological Surveillance and Public Health Unit, Regional Direction of Health, Casablanca, Morocco.

Abstract

Background: Tobacco control measurements' had little impact on smoking prevalence in Morocco. The aim of this study is to provide first data on smoking attributable mortality in Morocco.

Method: The Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) software was used to estimate the smoking attributable mortality (SAM) in Casablanca region in 2012. Smoking prevalence and mortality data of people aged 35 years or older were obtained from the national survey on tobacco "Marta" and from Health Ministry Mortality System, respectively.

Results: Of the 5261deaths of persons aged 35 years and older, 508 (9.7%) were attributable to cigarette smoking. This total represents 16.2% of all male deaths (n =448) and 2.0% (n =80) of all female deaths in this region. The leading four causes of smoking attributable deaths were lung cancer (177), chronic airways obstruction (76), ischemic heart disease (39), and cerebrovascular disease (31).

Conclusion: Tobacco use caused one out of six deaths in Casablanca in 2012. Four leading causes (lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and chronic airways obstruction,) accounted for 51.6% of SAM. Effective and comprehensive actions must be taken in order to slow this epidemic in Morocco.