Mortality Attributable to Second Hand Smoking in Morocco: 2012 Results of a National Prevalence Based Study

Purpose: To estimate the number of deaths attributable to second hand smoking (SHS) in Morocco in 2012. Materials and Methods: prevalence based study focusing on mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and lung cancer among non-smokers aged 35 and over. Prevalence of SHS among never smokers was gathered from a national cross sectional survey on tobacco and population attributable risk (PAR) was calculated by applying PARs to mortality. The analyses were stratified by sex, age and area of exposure. Results: Rates for exposure to SHS among men aged 35-64 years ranged from 20.0% at home to 57.4% at work. Among non-smoking Moroccans aged 35 and over, 233 (IC: 147 - 246) deaths were attributable to exposure to SHS; 156 (IC: 100 - 221) in women and 77 (IC: 44 -125) in men. A total of 173 (122 - 222) deaths were estimated to have been caused by exposure only at home, 34 (9 - 76) by exposure only at the work place and 26 (15 - 58) by exposure both at home and work places. Exposure to SHS could be responsible for 182 (128 - 237) deaths from IHD and 51 (19 - 109) from lung cancer. Conclusions: These data confirm that SHS needs urgent attention in Morocco.