Epidemiological data was retrieved from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), Integrated Information System on Social Protection (SISPRO) and National Survey of Substance abuse 2008 databases. Costs are expressed in 2012 prices and were obtained from local studies and regional approximations. A micro-simulation first order Monte Carlo model was constructed, incorporating natural history, costs and quality of life of the most important diseases related with smoking: stroke, Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and lung cancer. The model was programmed in Excel (Microsoft Excel ® Office Professional Edition 2003) with Visual Basic ® Macros (Microsoft Visual Basic® 6.3). A software package was installed to improve the random number generator function in Excel®. RESULTS: $ 1.692 million dollars (USD$863,103,308 heart diseases, USD$442,619,734 COPD, USD$ 170,000,285 lung cancer and USD$216,852,028 stroke). CONCLUSIONS:

Smoking is directly responsible for the loss of 674.262 lives each year in Colombia and generates an annual direct healthcare cost of more than 4 billion Colombian pesos, equivalent to 0.6% of Colombian GDP and 10.5% of healthcare spending. These results could be useful for decision makers to reinforce public policies regarding smoking cessation in Colombia.