Thank you for your response. In Smoke Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death in rural areas, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. In 1997, nearly 5,000 rural Pennsylvanians which is roughly the population of Forest County died from smoking-related illnesses, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease. In 1997, smoking caused 195 deaths for every 100,000 residents in rural areas and 189 deaths for every 100,000 residents in urban areas. In both rural and urban areas, smoking causes about 18 percent of all deaths.
Rural males are more at risk from smoking-related deaths than rural females.
In addition to the toll smoking takes on individuals, it takes a toll on the economy. Estimates indicate that 15 cents of every dollar spent on health care in rural Pennsylvania is for smoking-related illnesses. In urban areas, only 6 percent of the health care costs are attributed to smoking-related illnesses. Other economic costs are lost wages and productivity. Absenteeism was another problem associated with smoking.