Australia to make a pack of cigarettes $40 by 2020
On World Cancer Day, the Irish Cancer Society urges Irish Government to follow suit
Cigarettes cost almost $25 (€17.60) per packet in Australia currently
The Australian Government has made a commitment to raise the price of a pack of cigarettes to $40 by 2020 and the Irish Cancer Society has called on Government to make a similarly bold pledge.
On World Cancer Day (Saturday, February 4th), the Irish Cancer Society is highlighting the fact that 1 in 4 cancer deaths are caused by smoking and that high tobacco taxes are one of the most effective ways of reducing the number of people who smoke. Smoking is the cause of 2,860 cancer deaths in Ireland a year.
The Government’s policy on smoking, ‘Tobacco Free Ireland’, outlines the goal of Ireland being tobacco-free by 2025. Keeping the price of cigarettes high and out of reach of young potential smokers, is a key element of the strategy to reduce the smoking rate in Ireland. Despite the fact a pack of 20 cigarettes is now over €11, the Irish Cancer Society says the Government has to make it clear to smokers that the price of cigarettes is only going in one direction and that support is available to help them to quit.
Donal Buggy, Head of Services and Advocacy at the Irish Cancer Society said: “We need to send a strong signal that the Government is serious about reaching its target of a Tobacco Free Ireland by 2025. To do this we need to follow the example of Australia, where significant spikes in excise duty, next to policies such as plain packaging, have seen a dramatic fall in the smoking rate to 12.8% by the middle of 2016. In Ireland, the smoking rate is just under 20%”
A recent report commissioned by the Department of Health on the economic cost of smoking in Ireland highlighted the fact that cost of tobacco to Irish society in 2013, the latest available data, was €590 million more than the Government took in through excise receipts .
Speaking at the British Thoracic Oncology Conference in Dublin recently, Mike Daube, Professor of Health Policy at Curtin University, Western Australia and tobacco expert said, “In Australia, as in Ireland, Big Tobacco is losing battle after battle in the political arena, in the law courts, and in the court of public opinion.
“We are described by the tobacco industry as “the darkest market in the world”. Ireland and Australia have taken similar comprehensive approaches to reduce smoking, which remains our largest preventable cause of death and disease. It’s pleasing to see that the Irish Government has continued to raise taxes on tobacco products as this is the most effective way of ensuring that people quit. I hope that Ireland, which leads the world on smoke free legislation, will follow Australia’s example on tax and push for even bigger increases in excise duty later this year.”
Professor Daube also said that high tobacco tax should not be viewed in isolation but as one of a number of actions Governments can take to reduce the smoking rate. He congratulated the Irish Government on its progress towards plain packaging, which was introduced in Australia in 2012 with very positive results – and none of the negative outcomes (such as increases in illicit tobacco) predicted by the tobacco industry. He also highlighted the importance of strong, national, media campaigns and adequate support for smokers who want to quit.
Tobacco use is responsible for one in five cancer deaths worldwide, with 1.9 million tobacco-related cancer deaths each year. A recent WHO and US National Cancer Institute study found that the most effective measure to help people stop smoking is to impose high taxes on tobacco, but many countries, especially low- and middle-income countries, are scared of taking on the tobacco industry.
The Irish Cancer Society says that Ireland has the opportunity to show leadership to the rest of the world, in particular other small nations, that are in the process of designing strong tobacco taxation policies. This is especially important given that as smoking declines in many developed countries, the tobacco industry is targeting low and middle income countries, such that smoking deaths globally are predicted to rise from the current 6 million to 8 million a year by 2030.
Recent Eurostat figures show that as of December 2016, Ireland had the second highest tobacco prices in the EU, with prices almost twice the EU average.
