Ex-health chief wants tobacco tax to go higher
Former health secretary Sophia Chan says further increasing tobacco tax is crucial to encourage smokers to quit, adding that such a move would not lead people to buy untaxed, illegal cigarettes. Cigarette duty rose by 30 percent earlier this year but Chan told a Commercial Radio programme on Sunday that more government intervention is needed if the administration is to meet its target of reducing the territory's smoking rate from 9.5 percent to 7.8 percent by 2025. Chan, now a nursing scholar at the University of Hong Kong, also rejected the idea that another increase in tobacco tax would drive more smokers to buy illicit cigarettes. "Raising the tobacco tax wouldn't drive people to buy illicit cigarettes. Of course the problem of illicit cigarettes exists, but the government has worked very hard and done a lot of work to resolve the issue from the source. So we're confident that the problem with illicit cigarettes can be controlled," she said. Chan also said authorities ought to expand no-smoking areas, adding that people should give their views on the matter before a public consultation exercise on tobacco control ends at the end of the month. Speaking to reporters later in the day, health minister Lo Chung-mau said there is room to further increase tobacco tax. "The World Health Organisation recommends that tobacco tax account for 75 percent of the selling price of cigarettes. It's now just around 64 percent. So there's still a lot of room for increase and we will make good use of this policy," he said. _____________________________
Last updated: 2023-09-03 HKT 16:40 