Curbing the Epidemic: Governments and the Economics of Tobacco Control

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Prabhat Jha, Frank J. Chaloupka
World Bank Publications, 1999 M01 1 - 122 pages
QUOTEThe World Bank comprehensively dismisses the arguments of the tobacco industry that tobacco control measures impair freedom of choice.QUOTE-- The Financial Times, May 18, 1999Smoking already kills one in 10 adults worldwide. Until recently, the epidemic and chronic disease caused by smoking mainly affected rich nations but it is now rapidly shifting to the developing world. Few people will dispute that smoking is damaging health on a global scale. However, many governments have taken little, if any economic action to control smoking such as higher taxes, comprehensive bans on advertising and promotion, or restrictions on smoking in public places due to concerns that interventions such as these would have harmful economic consequences.QUOTECurbing the EpidemicQUOTE addresses important economic and social issues that confront policymakers when dealing with tobacco control and the impact of tobacco control policies on economies. The economic aspects of tobacco control are critical since the production and consumption of tobacco have a strong impact on the social and economic resources of both developed and developing countries. The report: * Assesses the expected consequences of tobacco control for health* Assesses the consequences for economies and Individuals* Demonstrates that the economic fears that have deterred policymakers from taking action are largely unfounded. It is believed with current smoking patterns, about 500 million people alive today will eventually be killed by tobacco use. By 2030, the report states that tobacco is expected to be the single biggest cause of death worldwide, accounting for about 10 million deaths per year.In light of the rising death toll from tobacco use, this report is also very timely. It draws on many productive collaborations that have arisen among governments, non governmental organizations, agencies within the United Nations system, such as UNICEF, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the International Monetary Fund.

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Page 77 - East Asia and Pacific Europe and Central Asia Latin America and Caribbean Middle East and North Africa South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa...
Page 117 - Health and Economic Implications of a Tobacco-Free Society.
Page 48 - Institute of Medicine. Growing Up Tobacco Free: Preventing Nicotine Addiction in Children and Youths. Washington, DC National Academy Press. 1994.
Page 2 - It demonstrates that the economic fears that have deterred policymakers from taking action are largely unfounded. Policies that reduce the demand for tobacco, such as a decision to increase tobacco taxes, would not cause long-term job losses in the vast majority of countries. Nor would higher tobacco taxes reduce tax revenues; rather, revenues would climb in the medium term. Such policies could, in sum, bring unprecedented health benefits without harming economies.
Page 6 - Evidence from countries at all income levels shows that price increases on cigarettes are highly effective in reducing demand. Policies to reduce demand are effective Evidence from countries at all income levels shows that price increases on cigarettes are highly effective in reducing demand. Higher taxes induce some smokers to quit and deter others from starting. They also reduce the number of ex-smokers who return to cigarettes and reduce consumption among continuing smokers. On average, a price...
Page 10 - China, a 6.5 percent tax increase would be sufficient to finance a package of essential health services for one-third of China's poorest 100 million citizens.
Page 7 - While interventions to reduce demand for tobacco are likely to succeed, measures to reduce its supply are less promising. This is because, if one supplier is shut down, an alternative supplier gains an incentive to enter the market. The extreme measure of prohibiting tobacco is unwarranted on economic grounds as well as unrealistic and likely to fail. Crop substitution is often proposed as a means to reduce the tobacco supply, but there is scarcely any evidence that it reduces consumption, since...
Page 22 - Nicotine intake in young smokers: longitudinal study of saliva cotinine concentrations.
Page 78 - premature' death is defined as one that occurs before the age to which the dying person could have expected to survive if they were a member of a standardized model population with a life expectancy at birth equal to that of the world's longest-surviving population, Japan.
Page 8 - While crop substitution is not an effective way to reduce consumption, it may be a useful strategy where needed to aid the poorest tobacco farmers in transition to other livelihoods, as part of a broader diversification program. Similarly, the evidence so far suggests that trade restrictions, such as import bans, will have little impact on cigarette consumption worldwide. Instead, countries are more likely to succeed in curbing tobacco consumption by adopting measures that effectively reduce demand...

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