BANGKOK, 1 June 2014 – The Public Health Ministry has voiced support for the idea of raising taxes on tobacco, saying the higher the so-called sin taxes, the fewer the number of people dying from smoking.
Speaking on the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day, which falls on May 31st of every year, Dr. Narong Sahametapat, Permanent Secretary for Public Health, said smoking kills around 6 million smokers and 600,000 second-hand smokers worldwide each year. Smoking is the number two cause of death after high blood pressure, according to him.
If this issue was not seriously tackled, the number of deaths would rise to 8.3 million per year, he said.
As for Thailand, the statistics compiled in 2009 showed that over 50,000 Thais succumbed to diseases caused by smoking. These diseases included pulmonary emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
As a result, the permanent secretary has called on related agencies to place more emphasis on the issue and impose higher taxes on tobacco in order to cut down the number of smoking activities. He said fewer people would die if the prices of tobacco were higher.
