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Anti-smoking group urges 5pc rise on tobacco tax
An anti-smoking charity has called for a five per cent increase on tobacco tax, saying it would lead to a drop in thousands of smokers and save millions in health costs.
A tax increase would discourage children from buying cigarettes and help adults quit the habit, according to a new report released by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
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Raising tobacco prices through taxation by 5% above inflation would lead to a reduction in the number of smokers by 190,000 and save the NHS more than 20 million a year by cutting the cost of treating smoking-related diseases, the report says.
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It would also reduce smoking-related absenteeism in the workplace, saving more than 10 million a year, increase government tax revenues by more than 500 million a year and result in wider economic benefits in the first five years of more than 270 million a year.
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Ash is now calling on the Government to increase tobacco prices through taxation by 5% above inflation in its pre-Budget submission to the Treasury and by a minimum of the rate of inflation in subsequent years, with the support of organisations including the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID).
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Ash chief executive Deborah Arnott said: "Smoking is a childhood addiction and not an adult choice. By increasing tobacco taxation we help to discourage children from buying cigarettes. An above-inflation rise would also help adults stop smoking."
Howard Reed, who authored the report, said: "The economic analysis and forecasts in this report clearly show that an above-inflation rise in the price of tobacco is good for the health of the individual as well as for the health of the country."
Joy Townsend, emeritus professor of health economics and primary care at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the Government should act on the report's recommendations.
She said: "This is an excellent and valuable report. It uses sound well-developed economic models which illustrate most effectively how great an impact raising taxes can have in reducing the demand for tobacco, and the clear and significant benefits for both public health and public finances."
FSID director Joyce Epstein said: "Scientific evidence shows that every year the lives of over 100 UK infants could be saved if no pregnant woman smoked. Smoking by fathers increases the risk of infant death as well. Our organisation supports increasing the price of tobacco because it will encourage smokers to consider quitting and so protect their children."
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