World No Tobacco Day: Save lives, save money, governments urged

.
The WHO issued a statement on Monday saying that tobacco “worsens poverty, damages health and causes devastating social, economic, and environmental harm”. 
Southeast Asia is home to 10 per cent (125 million) of the world’s smokers, SEATCA executive director Bungon Ritthiphakdee said. Half of all adult Southeast Asians smoke, and yet tobacco kills about 500,000 people per year, she said. 
“Tobacco use not only impoverishes the users and their families but also burdens national economies, with more than US$10 billion in healthcare costs annually [resulting] from tobacco-related illnesses and premature deaths. 
 “On top of health costs, a country’s economy suffers when sick or dying smokers cannot work, and because smoking prevalence is much higher among men with low education and low income, in many ways, tobacco and poverty are part of a vicious cycle that deals a double blow to poor people. 
“Money spent on tobacco means less money for necessities such as food, healthcare, shelter and education, while diseases from tobacco cause the poor untold suffering and drive them deeper into poverty when breadwinners fall sick or die early.
“Substantial tobacco tax increases are a win-win policy for public health,” Bungon said. “It is also the most direct and effective measure to reduce smoking, especially among the poor. High taxes on tobacco save lives by discouraging tobacco use, while raising much-needed revenues that can finance health and social development programmes. 
“Tobacco-tax revenues in the Philippines earmarked by law for its Universal Health Coverage paid health insurance premiums for about 14.7 million poor families in 2014, up from 5.2 million families in 2013. Thailand has also successfully funded public health programmes through a 2-per-cent surcharge tax on tobacco and alcohol products. These earmarked revenues amount to $125 million [Bt4.2 billion] a year.”