Economic gains of transitioning towards reduced-risk products: evidence from Mexico

• Published in: Discover social science and health Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 23 - 15
• Main Author: Espinosa Herrera, Alejandro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.12.2024; Springer Nature B.V; Springer
• Subjects: Alcohol use; Avoidable; Biomedicine; Body fat; Cancer; Cigarettes; Cost control; Diabetes; Diet; Disease; Economic development; Electronic cigarettes; Food; Fruit; GDP; GNP; Gross Domestic Product; Gross National Product; Health behavior; Health care expenditures; Health promotion; Healthy food; Hypertension; Malnutrition; Mortality; Nicotine; Nutrition; Nutrition research; Productivity; Public health; Risk behavior; Salt; Savings; Smoking; Social Sciences; Sugar; Tax revenues; Tobacco; Vaping; Vegetables; Canada; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Finland; England; Italy; Mexico; Australia; Russia
• ISSN: 2731-0469; 2731-0469
• DOI: 10.1007/s44155-024-00079-z

Unhealthy behaviors such as poor diet and tobacco use contribute to disease burden and escalating healthcare costs. This paper evaluates potential savings from people adopting reduced risk behaviors in Mexico. Using the Preventable Risk Integrated Model, we compare actual consumption in 2016 (baseline) to optimal intake following WHO guidelines (counterfactual) for salt, fiber, fruit/vegetables, and fat to estimate reductions in coronary, cerebrovascular, cancer, diabetes and hypertensive diseases. We also model 50% of smokers switching to e-cigarettes/heated tobacco with 65–97% lower disease risk. Results indicate over 650,000 preventable cases annually, mostly from diet changes (fruits/vegetables, fat, salt). Healthcare cost savings reach $3.4 billion USD; $2.8 billion from nutrition and $0.3 billion from smoking substitution. Fruit/vegetable intake and reduced fat confer over $1 billion savings each. Salt and fiber also contribute significantly. Adding smoking transitions provides further savings. Shifting Mexicans towards healthier diets and alternative nicotine products could substantially lower disease burden and healthcare costs. These findings underscore the economic imperative of promoting reduced-risk behaviors through public health policies.