Tobacco Taxes Could Save Lives

The latest anti-smoking campaign measures include higher taxes on tobacco products. They have also placed bans on lighting up in public. Experts predict that these measures could possibly prevent millions of premature deaths around the globe.

Between 2007 to 2010, Turkey, Romania and thirty nine other countries established taxes and bans on smoking in public places that have already saved lives, a study published by the World Health Organization says.

Professor David Levy the lead author of the study from Georgetown University Medical Center located in Washington says that, “”If the progress attained by these … countries were extended globally, tens of millions of smoking-related deaths could be averted.”

Experts predict that a wider use of tobacco taxes and bans could potentially decrease health care costs and higher birth rates in babies resulting in healthier children.

Pakistan, Argentina and Italy have plans that they hope will reach an estimated 15 million people and convince them not to smoke. The study estimates that this plan could nearly 7.4 million smoking related deaths by 2050.

All recent studies seem to prove that the most effective steps in saving lives and reducing the numbers of smokers is higher taxes and bans. By banning smoking in businesses, restaurants and other public places could prevent 2.5 million smoking related deaths. Taxes could prevent 3.5 million deaths the study states.

Each year six million people die smoking related deaths. If the trend continues the experts say those numbers could reach eight million before 2030. The WHO is waging war on “Big Tobacco,” but to win this war it needs individual states to tax cigarettes heavily and ban smoking in public places.