The Canary Islands top the list of Spanish regions with the highest mortality attributed to smoking, according to research led by the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), comparing tobacco-related mortality across the country. Deaths linked to smoking in the Canary Islands, account for 15.3% of the total fatalities, according to the epidemiological study led by researcher Julia Rey Brandariz.
Behind the Canary Islands are the Balearic Islands, with 14.2% of deaths caused by smoking, and Extremadura, with 13.6%.
"In the case of men, tobacco-related mortality in the islands is quite low, but in women, it is the highest in Spain," comments the epidemiologist and professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at USC.
Specifically, among women, the mortality attributable to tobacco compared to total mortality is 6.6% in the Canary Islands, far from the 2.3% in Castilla-La Mancha, the community with the fewest deaths linked to smoking among women.
"In the Canary Islands, about 68 women per 100,000 inhabitants die from tobacco-related diseases, placing the islands at the forefront of tobacco-related mortality in women, followed by Madrid and the Basque Country," comments the epidemiologist.
In the case of the male population, in the Canary Islands, 23% of men die as a result of smoking, the same as in Andalusia and only below Extremadura, where 24.6% of men die from tobacco-related pathologies. "The tobacco-related mortality rate in men in the archipelago is 274 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants," explains Rey.
The study, published in the Spanish Journal of Cardiology, was based on data on observed mortality and the prevalence of tobacco consumption in 2017.
According to the document, in the Canary Islands, out of the 7,956 deaths of men over 35 years old registered that year, 1,831 were caused by smoking. In the case of women, there were 467 deaths linked to smoking out of a total of 7,065 deaths. In total, in 2017 in Spain, there were 53,825 deaths of people over 35 years old attributed to smoking, accounting for 12.9% of the total deaths that year.
On the other hand, a few weeks ago, another study led by Rey was published on mortality attributed to tobacco inhalation in different regions.
Between 2016 and 2021, it is estimated that 252 passive smokers died in the Canary Islands due to smoke inhalation, about 42 people per year. "Annually in Spain, about 830 people die from inhaling tobacco.
