High tax on tobacco essential, says UN
A UN meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) yesterday adopted a declaration committing governments to accelerate implementation of the WHO convention on tobacco control (FCTC). It also encouraged countries, which have not yet done so, to consider wor
Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) director Bungon Ritthiphakdee, said the declaration also recognised that reducing tobacco consumption was an important contribution to reducing NCDs.
Thailand, he said, has demonstrated that price and tax measures were an effective means of reducing this tobacco consumption.
"In Asean countries such as Thailand, which has increased tobacco taxes nine times from 1994-2010 [current excise rate is 85 per cent], smoking prevalence among youths and the poor has dropped by more than 50 per cent," Bungon said.
Dr Margaret Chan, WHO director-general, said: "Full implementation of the WHO framework convention on tobacco control would bring the single biggest blow to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and respiratory disease. In terms of demand reduction, increases in tobacco taxes and prices are the most effective measure. They not only protect health, they bring in considerable revenue."
A recent World Economic Forum and Harvard University study estimated that, over the next 20 years, non-communicable diseases will cost the global economy more than US$30 trillion [Bt913 trillion], representing 48 per cent of the global GDP in 2010. NCDs can thus "break the bank" of even the wealthiest nations, she said.
Indonesia (34 per cent) and the Philippines (28.3 per cent) have the highest number of smokers in the world. Not coincidentally, they also have some of the lowest tobacco tax rates and the cheapest tobacco products in the world.
The overall death toll of NCDs is estimated at 36 million annually, 6 million of which are attributed to tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke.
