How the tobacco industry undermines taxation policies – new blog

17 August 2022, at 12:29.

Taxing tobacco products in order to reduce their affordability is one of the most effective tobacco control public health interventions. It both encourages existing smokers to quit and deters non-smokers from ever starting – particularly the young. As such, the tobacco industry has developed a range of pricing strategies designed to undermine tobacco taxes and ensure that its products remain accessible.

Drawing on a review of global literature on the tobacco industry response to excise tax policies by the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath, a new blog piece published on NCD Alliance by TCRG member Zaineb Sheikh provides an overview of some of the industry’s main pricing strategies.

Referring also to another academic study examining the industry response to tobacco tax rises in Colombia, the author argues that policy makers must take these pricing strategies into account when developing tobacco control policies, putting in place counter measures to ensure that taxation remains an effective means of reducing premature deaths and noncommunicable diseases.

Read the blog piece here.