Clarion call for raising tobacco taxes to 65 per cent

As the Kerala Budget date draws close, eminent social advocates, thinkers and doctors have appealed to the Government to raise taxes on all tobacco products to 65 per cent.  In separate letters to the Hon’ble Finance Minister Shri KM Mani, they have pointed out that taxing tobacco products will not only help save many precious lives but can also bring in much-needed revenues to the state exchequer.

Renowned dramatist, poet and theatre personality Padmabhushan Shri Kavalam Narayana Panikker has said, “Taxing tobacco products will prevent draining away of precious resources on induced and preventable morbidity. With one stroke of your pen, you can save so many lives in Kerala that we can by any means.”

Former Vice Chancellor, Kerala University Dr G Balamohanan Thampy has pointed out, “At a time when our state is facing a huge resource crunch, taxing tobacco products can prove to be a major avenue for resource mobilisation.”  Well-known filmmaker Shri Shaji N Karun has said, “Increasing the price of tobacco through higher taxes is the single most effective way to encourage tobacco users to quit and to prevent children from starting to smoke.”

Economist and Professor, Centre for Development Studies here Dr S Irudaya Rajan, in his letter, has cited the case of Rajasthan to explain how tax increase can lead to greater revenues. “The Rajasthan Government has consistently increased taxes on tobacco products over the last years and the tobacco tax in the state is currently peaking at an all-India high of 65 per cent. Currently the state earns revenue of Rs 312.08 crores from taxes on bidis. Cigarettes also show an upward trend in tax revenues; the earnings rose from Rs 62.80 crores in 2009-10 to Rs 139.23 crores in 2011-12.”

Well-known cardiologist and Head, Department of Cardiology, PRS Hospital
Dr Tiny Nair has said, “As a doctor, I see the impact of tobacco every day. The disease, suffering and death which tobacco cause are terrible. As a doctor, I try to cure those suffering but as a human being, I am convinced that we need to prevent the problem in the first place. I urge to increase VAT on all tobacco products to 65 per cent in our state.”

Justice KP Balachandran; Former Director of Encyclopaedic Publications,
Dr George Onakkoor; Retd. DGP Shri KP Somarajan; Retd Principal, Government Arts College, Thrissur Prof CG Rajagopal; Gender Economist Dr S Radha; Consultant Neurologist, PRS Hospital Dr R Anandam;  Consultant Cardiologist, Attukal Devi Institute of Medical Sciences Dr G Girija; Paediatrician Dr T Suresh Kumar; Chairman, IMA Research Cell Dr Sreejith N  Kumar and Retd. Superintendent of Police Shri KN Janarajan have also written to the Government for raising taxes on all tobacco products to 65 per cent.

There are around 55 lakh tobacco users in Kerala and a study conducted by the Johns Hopkins University, USA has shown that as many as 4.54 lakh precious lives can be saved/early deaths averted if VAT on tobacco products is increased to 65 per cent.

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Tripling tobacco tax worldwide could cut smokers by a third

Aggressive taxation is the key to achieving a World Health Organization goal of reducing the global prevalence of smoking by one-third, new research led by a Toronto scientist shows.

A study headed by St. Michael’s Hospital’s Centre for Global Health Research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that tripling tobacco taxes around the world could reduce the number of smokers by 433.3 million people and prevent 200 million premature deaths from lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases.

“We hope this will spur governments to (recognize) it’s a no-brainer. There is more revenue, fewer deaths and all sorts of benefits for the population,” said Dr. Prabhat Jha, director of the centre and professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

He launched the study to determine how the worldwide prevalence of smoking could be chopped by a third by 2025, a goal set at the World Health Organization’s 2013 Assembly.

While the proposal to hike tobacco taxes is a global one, it is particularly targeted at 10 regions representing two-thirds of the world’s 1.3 billion smokers. In descending order, they are: China, India, the European Union, Indonesia, the United States, Russia, Japan, Brazil, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Strong lobbying by the tobacco industry has helped keep taxes lower in those countries, Jha explained.

Residents of China consume a staggering two trillion cigarettes annually, out of a world total of about six trillion.

Jha pointed out that the study is not just theoretical and that some countries have experienced great success in reducing smoking rates by sharply upping taxes.

For example, France tripled cigarette prices by raising taxes at least 5 per cent higher than the inflation rate every year between 1990 and 2005. At the same time, the country managed to halve cigarette consumption and double tobacco revenues.

The number of smokers in Canada has also dropped by half, but the decline has taken three decades and is largely due to tax increases, Jha said.

About 4 million Canadians smoke today, and that number could continue to be reduced — again by a third — if tobacco taxes were tripled, he said.

Jha noted that non-price interventions — including advertising bans, warning labels and smoke-free laws — also help to reduce smoking, but hiking taxes is the “single most effective” tool.

About $300 billion (U.S.) is collected annually in tobacco taxes around the world. Even though higher taxes would lower consumption, tax revenues would continue to rise by another $100 billion, bringing the annual total to $400 billion, the analysis showed.

Source: The Star

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Kerala hotels and restaurants to go smoke free

Hotel industry in Kerala is for making lives of Keralites all the more healthy by making hotels and restaurants tobacco smoke free. Major hotels and restaurants associations of the state have agreed to protect employees and customers from dangers of second-hand smoke by initiating necessary measures soon. 

Key office bearers and senior representatives of hotel associations including Kerala Hotels and Restaurants Association (KHRA); South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA); South Kerala Hoteliers Forum (SKHF) and Association of Approved and Classified Hotels of Kerala (AACHK) are also united in their commitment to put up mandated signages and in preventing customers and employees from smoking in their premises. 

The Kerala hotel industry looks at the larger benefits that will accrue to public health as against the possible short-term losses from implementing smoke-free rules, Shri D Chandrasenan Nair, veteran hotel industry leader and General Convenor of South Kerala Hoteliers Forum (SKHF) has said. “By making our hotels and restaurants smoke-free, we are hopeful of attracting greater number of non-smokers including women and children.” 

Shri G Sudhiesh Kumar, State President of the 20,000-member-strong Kerala Hotels and Restaurants Association said the decision to implement smoke-free rules was unanimously approved at the Annual General Meeting of the association that met at Kochi on 19 December.

“We realise that this endeavour is not easy especially in bar hotels but we are going ahead with the decision to protect non-smokers; the provisions of law will be implemented in a phased manner,” said Shri Kumar, who is also the Trivandrum District President of Kerala Bar Hotels Association. He also reiterated his association’s commitment to have COTPA mandated signages set up in all hotels and restaurants.

Shri MR Narayanan, Secretary General of South Kerala Hoteliers Forum has said that through this campaign the hotel industry wishes to communicate the message that efforts to curtail passive smoking should be taken up by all. 

Shri Mathew Thomas, senior representative of Association of Approved and Classified Hotels of Kerala (AACHK)  and Shri S Ajith Kumar, senior representative of South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA) have also expressed their commitment to the cause. 

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