Health expert calls for rise in tobacco duty

Public health experts have criticized the government for ineffectual legislation and policies while at the same time pledging to create a smoke-free city.
"I find it totally bewildering that a government which wants to raise money through a goods and services tax, does not increase tobacco duty, foregoing the health benefits which would follow," Anthony Hedley, professor of public health at Hong Kong University, said at an annual conference of the International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced Diseases.
Hedley said his department estimated the cost of tobacco damage to health in Hong Kong each year amounted to US$700 million (HK$5.46 billion). This is before taking into account the value of the lives lost.
"This means the real cost of an average pack of cigarettes here is not US$2.60 but rather US$32," he said.
International bodies such as the World Bank and the World Health Organization, as well as the entire public health sector, recognized the hazard of cheap tobacco and the importance of imposing a tobacco duty in reducing consumption among young people, Hedley said.
A tobacco tax generates revenue for the government to offset falling demand and to meet the high community cost of tobacco, Hedley said.
"But in Hong Kong both our chief executive and finance minister have repeated the mantras of the tobacco industry that smuggling occurs because of the high taxes, and that `cigarettes are already expensive,"' Hedley said.
"Not true. In Hong Kong we have some of the cheapest tobacco in the world in relation to GDP [gross domestic product] per capita and we have not had a single cent increase on tobacco tax in six years."
Hedley said this year was a landmark in tobacco control with ratification of the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control by more than 125 countries and successive waves of cities, regions and countries declaring a smoke-free status in workplaces and public places.
But the Hong Kong government is lagging behind, he said.
Hong Kong lawmakers on October 18 overwhelmingly passed a controversial anti-smoking bill banning smoking in all indoor workplaces and restaurants and selected outdoor areas such as parks and beaches
But Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok was criticized for doing a U-turn by proposing smoking rooms be installed in some public areas.
Eric LeGresley, adviser to the Council on Smoking and Health, said changes made to the smoking bill last month were too narrow, and the tobacco companies would simply change their marketing techniques to get around the law.
He said more controls were needed to restrict the information on packets.
Hedley agreed the current legislation for tobacco control left many loopholes and opportunities for tobacco companies to bypass legislation, opportunities they would seize if allowed to.
"Arguably the biggest and over- riding problem is the original bill proposals were not all written by public health specialists who have the essential insight into tobacco industry politics and marketing strategies," he said.