Health Ministry calls for additional taxes to curtail smoking

The Ministry of Health has called for levying additional taxes to curtail tobacco use.

Health Ministry conducted a survey in 2021 and 2022 to identify the risk of noncommunicable diseases. According to the survey, the average age for adolescents to pick up smoking is just eight years.

The Global Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted in 2019 among students, showed the smoking population among adolescents increased to 45.7 percent in 2019 from 11.2 percent in 2011.

The Health Ministry said the statistics provided evidence of the growing number of adolescents using vapes, e-cigarettes, and sheesha, among other tobacco-based products. The authority also added that advertisements promoting such products are now easily accessible due to the internet and noted that their easy-to-use nature and high number of venues for teenagers to frequent to indulge in such activities also contributed to the increase in smoking among youngsters.

Survey findings also revealed that both adolescents of both genders, in similar numbers, smoked.

The ministry said the Maldives imported close to 400 million cigarettes worth MVR 1.8 billion per annum, while a majority of Aasandha was utilized towards treating patients with health ailments related to smoking or tobacco use.

Health Ministry further highlighted that due to the growing number of citizens becoming handicapped owing to tobacco-related health issues, was pulling down the national productivity ratio as well.

The ministry, quoting the World Health Organization's (WHO) statistics, said that the Maldives had a mortality rate of one per every other day from tobacco- or smoke-related diseases, which is 150 deaths per year.

The ministry stressed a few points to curtail or discourage tobacco usage in the Maldives. These include:

• Levying additional taxes on tobacco products to discourage usage of such products, introduction of procedures to levy the additional taxes, and utilize the income from these taxes on tobacco control measures and health promotion
• Establishment of cessation services for individuals willing to quit tobacco use
• Awareness programs on dangers of tobacco use
• Monitoring tobacco use, businesses that sell tobacco products, approaches to encourage individuals quit smoking and conduct research into tobacco control and utilize findings from the surveys on anti-tobacco policies
• Reduce the number of new smokers and strengthen steps to restrict advertisement of tobacco products
• Strengthen anti-tobacco regulation in public avenues and reduce the frequency of individuals exposed to passive smoking