Toronto, Jan 2
To reduce smoking in middle-income countries like India, where the cheapest cigarettes are relatively affordable and where smoking rates continue to rise, heavy taxes is the only way out.
Tripling taxes on cigarettes around the world would reduce the number of smokers by one-third and prevent 200 million premature deaths from lung cancer and other diseases this century, says a new study published in New England Journal of Medicine.
According to Prabhat Jha, lead author and director of Centre for Global Health Research of St. Michael's Hospital here, such a huge tax increase would narrow the price gap between the cheapest and most expensive cigarettes - encouraging people to stop rather than switch to a cheaper brand and help young people not to start.
by:IANS