“A higher tax on tobacco is the most effective measure to reduce smoking and deter future smokers”, thus, a few days before the increase in the price of tobacco by 20 cents on January 13 in France, the researcher Prabhat Jha comments on his recent study published in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine. In collaboration with Doctor Richard Peto, the scientist suggests that tripling the levies on tobacco would prevent 200 million deaths and reduce the number of smokers by a third.
According to the figures of the world health organization (WHO), smoking kills nearly 6 million people each year and if no urgent action is taken, the annual number of these deaths could reach more than 8 million by 2030. The two researchers are set the same goal as the WHO and the UN: to reduce the prevalence of smoking in the world by a third by 2025.
An incredibly powerful lever
Triple taxes on cigarettes would therefore be the solution, according to them, which would reduce the price differences between the different brands and prevent the smoker’s temptation to turn to the cheapest packets of cigarettes instead of quitting. or limit its consumption. Other strong arguments, such an increase should also discourage young people who want to start and would be particularly effective in low and middle income countries, where smoking is most common.
“Globally, around half a million children and adults under 35 are already – or soon will be – smokers, and the current trend is that few of them will quit,” says Dr Peto. . “This study shows that tobacco taxes are an incredibly powerful lever, and potentially a triple victory: reducing the number of people who smoke and die of their addiction, reducing premature tobacco-related deaths and, at the same time, increasing the state revenue, “he concludes.