Innovative Financing To Protect Public Health During A Pandemic
opinion
- The economic recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic has been uneven amid a cautious easing of restrictions. But even at the height of the epidemic, the tobacco industry carried on as usual.
Tobacco companies remain profitable, at $912.3 billion in 2022, and are taking advantage of the situation by promoting and selling their deadly products, convincing governments not to punish their industry during the pandemic, and claiming that cigarettes are a good investment.
It's an industry that accounts for $1.4 trillion a year in global health care costs and lost productivity equivalent to 1.8% of global GDP. 14% of deaths worldwide (more than 8 million deaths per year) are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) directly caused by tobacco use and secondhand smoke.
However, overall health spending is under-prioritized and remains low in many low- and middle-income countries, leaving insufficient resources for health promotion programs to counter the tobacco industry's misleading marketing tactics. In low-income countries, health spending as a percentage of government spending fell from 7.9% in 2000 to 6.8% in 2016.
In addition to its devastating effects on our bodies, smoking is also harmful to the environment. With an estimated 1.3 billion smokers worldwide who consume approximately 6.25 billion cigarettes each year, cigarette smoke releases significant amounts of carcinogens, toxins and pollutants into the air.
In fact, tobacco causes significant harm throughout its entire cycle, from processing, through production and distribution, to consumption and post-consumption. Cigarettes are the most common single-use plastic product in the world, costing ecosystems $20 billion a year due to plastic waste entering our oceans.
COVID-19 has been an unbroken constant in our lives for over two years, and it's not over yet. But we should not forget that smoking is also an epidemic.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), investments in tobacco control offer the best return on investment for public health. The Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has worked with governments, UNDP and WHO to develop country-specific investment models that quantify the economic benefits of implementing tobacco control policies.
And then there is the price of inaction. These investment cases, collected from 25 countries, show that urgent action could potentially save 1.4 million lives and save $74 billion.
Tobacco control is critical not only to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.4, to reduce premature deaths from non-chronic diseases by one-third by 2030, but also to the achievement of all the SDGs.
182 countries are parties to the International Convention on Tobacco Control, the WHO FCTC, and are legally bound to allocate domestic funds and identify sources of bilateral/multilateral funding to support the implementation of treaty measures.
However, governments allocate an average of US$15 million per year of national funds to tobacco control, which is needed, and this is mostly in high-income countries. The WTO FCTC Investment Fund has been authorized to raise additional funds in 2021 to also support the implementation of the treaty, but finances remain tight.
Creating a tax-based financing mechanism for health promotion is an innovative way to create sustainable and transparent financing for health and development. But it's not entirely new.
Health taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks are the most effective means of reducing infectious diseases. This tax reduces the consumption of these goods and their health care costs and is a reliable source of domestic financing of health care costs.
By 2021, at least 39 countries have announced that they will earmark a percentage of tobacco taxes for various health promotion programs, making polluters pay for their pollution rather than cutting existing government budgets.
Public support for regular tax increases can be generated by allocating tax revenues to health promotion programs. Such taxes can sustainably and sustainably reduce the investment gap and inequitable access to health promotion and disease prevention services.
In Thailand, the annual revenue from the additional 2% excise tax on tobacco and alcohol will be used to implement many health promotion programs, including tobacco control, alcohol and drug abuse control, traffic safety and, in recent years, the prevention of COVID-19;
This funding is administered by the Health Promotion Fund of Thailand, an autonomous government agency established by the Health Promotion Fund Act of 2001.
The Vietnam Tobacco Control Law of 2012 established the Vietnam Semi-Independent Tobacco Control Fund (VNTCF) within the Ministry of Health. The VNTCF is also funded by a mandatory 2% excise tax levied on manufacturers and importers of tobacco products.
These examples show that health promotion financing mechanisms can be successful despite the pandemic. Legislative action is essential to establish the legitimacy of these funding mechanisms, provide transparency and accountability measures for the proper management of funds, and protect against interference by harmful interests.
The fight against tobacco makes sense from a health, economic, sustainable and environmental point of view. When governments are short on cash, health taxes are an innovative way to ensure adequate funding for public health.
More info: https://hpfhub.info/
# ActuaEnLasENT:
Anisa Ismail is Sustainability Manager and Tan Yen Lian Knowledge and Information Manager at the Southeast Asian Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).
About SEATCA
SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance that promotes health and saves lives by helping ASEAN countries accelerate and effectively implement the tobacco control measures contained in the WHO FCTC. Recognized by governments, academic institutions and civil society for advancing tobacco control in Southeast Asia, WHO awarded SEATCA the 2004 World No Tobacco Day and 2014 WHO Director General's Special Award.
UN IPS Office
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