Tobacco taxes are important according to the WHO Tobacco Control Convention (Article 6) . A new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet confirms this. By analyzing data from 94 low- and middle-income countries, the researchers have examined the relationship between cigarette taxes and mortality among children under five years of age. The results are striking: if all countries in the study followed the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to tax cigarettes at least 75 percent of the retail price, more than 280,000 children could survive each year.
Márta Radó, a researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet, also emphasizes that tax increases can help to even out socio-economic disparities in child survival. This is in line with the global Sustainable Development Goals, of which health equity is a central part.
Despite clear WHO guidelines, many countries still have significantly lower tobacco taxes than recommended. The study shows that a relatively simple policy measure could have major humanitarian impacts – especially for the world's most vulnerable children.
