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Higher tobacco taxes urged to curb disease ($$) 

Governments around the world, including Hong Kong's, should consider raising tobacco taxes in an effort to curb smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, according to a director of the World Health Organisation.

"Tobacco tax is controversial," the WHO's chronic diseases and health promotion director, Fiona Adshead, said. "But there is good evidence to show that the best way to reduce smoking is to raise taxes, so the cost of smoking becomes so high that people have to quit."

According to customs statistics, a tobacco tax of 80 cents per cigarette levied in Hong Kong, unchanged since 2001, makes Hong Kong cigarettes among the cheapest in the developed economies. Last year a total of 3.79 billion cigarettes were consumed, 8 per cent more than in 2007.

Dr Adshead also said the government should provide more practical support in public hospitals for smokers who were trying to quit. But she said Hong Kong was a step ahead of many places trying to introduce smoking bans in public spaces.

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