Greater attention needs to be paid to eradicating smoking and alcohol abuse in the community, according to psychiatrist Dr. Edirimuri Rodrigo of the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute.

Dr. Rodrigo said that a significant portion of health care costs are directly related to ailments caused as a result of cigarette and/or alcohol dependency.

"Though tobacco dependence causes the most amount of morbidity and mortality nationally and internationally, people who smoke rarely seek treatment," he said.

"It is pertinent to note that globally, over 4.2 million deaths a year are consequent to tobacco use and on any given day, over 11,000 people die because of tobacco-use related disorders.

"If alcohol-use related disorders are included, approximately one third of a nation's health costs are spent on treating patients who have become ill because of their tobacco and/or alcohol use," he said.

Statistics of the number of tobacco related deaths in Bermuda do not exist.