A proposal from a senior official of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that all GCC countries should impose more taxes on tobacco products and make them more expensive in order to curb the menace of smoking, makes sound sense.
As pointed out by Gulf Times last Saturday, quoting Fatimah El-Awa, regional adviser, Tobacco Free Initiative, WHO-Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, imposing more taxes, is one of the best options to reduce the use of tobacco, especially among the youth and children.
Many studies in Qatar have indicated the alarming prevalence of smoking, especially among school students. According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) released in November 2014, the number of smokers in the 13-15 age group had gone up from 6.5% to 9.8%, marking an increase of 3.3% between 2007 and 2013.
During this period the percentage of smokers among boys went up from 13.4% to 14.9% and that among girls more than doubled from 2.3% to 4.7%. The GYTS in Qatar was conducted by the then Supreme Council of Health and the Supreme Education Council. A total of 2,109 students of grades 7-9, including 1,716 in the 13-15 age group, participated in the exercise.
It was also revealed that 15.7% of the students aged 13-15 used some tobacco products, out of which boys accounted for 22.8% and girls 8.8%. While 18.4% boys and 6.2% were current smokers, 9.4% boys and 3.2% girls used smokeless tobacco. The survey also found that 24.2% of students were exposed to tobacco smoking at home, while 47.9% were exposed to tobacco smoke inside enclosed places.
During a recent media workshop in Doha, the WHO official pointed out that most GCC countries impose only customs taxes on tobacco products, leaving their prices considerably low.
“In the GCC countries, tobacco companies are gaining 70-80% of the revenue from the industry, whereas the government is getting only about 20-30%. In an ideal situation, it should be the opposite so that the tobacco companies do not benefit greatly from the sale of their products.”
The official maintained that evidence from countries of all income levels, shows that price increases on cigarettes are highly effective in reducing demand.
Higher prices induce cessation and prevent initiation of tobacco use. They also reduce relapse among those who have quit and reduce consumption among continuing users. As pointed out by the WHO official tax increase is highly effective in high income countries too. Between 2000 and 2014, cigarette prices more than doubled in the UK, while smoking prevalence and illicit trade decreased and tobacco excise revenues increased.
El-Awa described that during the period, tobacco price was increased from £3.88 to £8.47 per pack; smoking was reduced from 27% to 18%; illicit trade went down from 21% to 9% as of 2012 and government revenue increased from £7.6 to £9.7bn until 2012.
On the face of the above facts, it is high time that the GCC governments augmented their efforts to curb the menace of tobacco on public health.