[Cessation of smoking decreases the number of cases with spontaneous pneumothorax and resources can be redistributed].

The incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax has increased during the last fifty years, and recent studies indicate that tobacco smoking increases the incidence approximately tenfold among women and twentyfold among men. Total direct and indirect costs for the community due to smoking-induced spontaneous pneumothorax in Sweden amount to roughly 70 million SEK annually. Were smokers to give up smoking, 70 to 90 per cent of the cases could be avoided. These figures, and the fact that other smoking-induced diseases annually cause at least 10,000 deaths, 1,000 permanent disabilities, and 450,000 days of hospital care in Sweden, constitute formidable arguments in favour of efforts to prevent smoking.