Low Taxation On Cigarettes In The Philippines Leads To An Increase In Smokers

The former Health Secretary in the Philippines, Jamie Galvez-Tan, is pushing for legislators to increase the taxation on cigarettes, to make smoking less affordable for children and teens.

To date the cigarette tax rate in the Philippines only stands at P0.12 per stick for the cheapest of the brands. As a result, it has become extremely cheap for youths there to experiment.

??If you really want people to stop smoking, the tobacco tax system needs to be improved immediately, to raise cigarette prices high enough to prevent or even stop children, youth, and the poor from tobacco use," Galvez-Tan claims.

He also claims that around a fourth of the Fillipino youth currently smoke cigarettes due to low taxation and poor implementation of laws preventing the sale of tobacco to teens.

In a number of cases, children begin to smoke before they even reach the age of ten years old, says a 2000 Global Youth Tobacco Survey.

In some cases, children start smoking even before they turn 10-years-old, according to the 2000 Global Youth Tobacco Survey.

There is a fair amount of irony in the fact that the number of smokers in developed nations is declining whilst the number of those smoking in developing countries is on the rise meaning that whilst efforts to quit smoking are proving successful here, poorer nations are now taking up the habit.