Smoking-linked losses in Japan estimated at over 2 trillion yen

Financial losses linked to smoking are estimated to have amounted to 2.05 trillion yen ($18.4 billion) in Japan in fiscal 2015, the health ministry said Wednesday, with the majority of spending going toward medical expenses.Of the losses, smokers' medical fees added up to 1.26 trillion yen, accounting for more than half of the total. Cancer treatment costs alone exceeded 500 billion yen, according to estimates made available by a research team at the ministry.The total cost of nursing care fees for diseases stemming from smoking reached 260 billion yen.Losses incurred by fires linked to car…READ FULL ARTICLE