Raising tobacco taxes is a win-win for governments
This week, technical experts from the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Revenue Authorities, Ministries of Health in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar and WHO Country Office are meeting to deep dive into tobacco taxation - the most effective and most cost-effective measure to reduce tobacco consumption. Through technical assistance from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco...
Kenya: Revenue authority proposes higher tobacco stamp duties.
In June 2022, the President assented to the Finance Bill 2022 thereby activating various proposals to Kenya’s fiscal governance regimes. Among the changes effected were the increased excise duty rates for various tobacco and nicotine products such as electronic cigarettes and the liquid nicotine therein, cartridges for use in electronic cigarettes, cigarettes with/without filters,...
CSO’s Consult on Tobacco Endgame in Ghana
A Consultative Forum for Civil Society Organizations was held on 8th February 2023 in Accra, where Mr. Issah Ali, Executive Director of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) highlighted the concept of the Tobacco Endgame. He shed light on its effective strategies, global best practices, the opportunities available to Ghana and other areas of reflection. Mr....
Pro-tobacco lobbyists circle Australian government’s proposed vaping reforms
As the TGA considers at least 4,000 submissions, tobacco companies appear to be heightening lobbying efforts An international pro-vaping group, supported by British American Tobacco, has hired an Australian lobbyist amid proposed government reforms that could see tightened access to nicotine vaping products. In February, Michael Kauter – a former deputy director of the Nationals and...
UK health expert raises alarm at vaping ‘epidemic’ among teenagers
One of the UK’s leading respiratory doctors has raised the alarm about the exploding popularity of vaping among teenagers, saying that without urgent regulation a generation could end up with long-term addictions and lung damage. Dr Mike McKean, vice-president of policy for the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, said vaping was becoming an...
ATCA 2022 Media Award: The Winners
In March 2022, the ATCA Tobacco Control Media Award was launched in a virtual come together that brought together media professionals and other tobacco control stakeholders to exchange ideas and experiences on the vital role that journalists play in tobacco control. The award, a yearly initiative organized to motivate journalists to generate compelling tobacco control media...
How Low Budgetary Allocation for Tobacco Control will Worsen Public Health Issues
The 2023 Appropriation Act has witnessed an innovative budgetary allocation for tobacco control, with an allocation of 4.7 million Naira, out of the overall 21.83 trillion Naira budget, to enforce tobacco control in Nigeria. The allocation is the first after two years since the Nigeria Tobacco Control Act 2015 was gazetted, which made provision for...
Dutch parliament supports making e-cigarettes look boring, uniform
Dutch parliamentarians want e-cigarettes and vapes to have a boring and uniform appearance. According to the D66, which will submit this proposal in parliament on Wednesday, this will make vaping less attractive to teenagers. A majority in parliament supports the plan, RTL Nieuws reports. “Young people now think it’s cool to have such an accessory with glitter...
MP asks Government to look again at ‘polluter pays’ levy on tobacco firms
Winchester and Chandler's Ford MP, Steve Brine, has called on the Government to create a smoke-free fund paid for by the tobacco industry, to boost new public health budgets. The Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee spoke during Parliamentary questions to the Health Department where he welcomed the appointment of Professor Deanfield as the...
Govt urged to amend tobacco control law, ban e-cigarettes
Local non-governmental organisation the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor on Wednesday urged the government to pass the draft amendment of tobacco control act and ban all types of electronic cigarettes at the earliest to make the country tobacco-free by 2040. "Tobacco companies are spreading rumours against the amendment of tobacco control act. We request...
