The imposition of taxes on specific consumption goods and services (i.e. excise taxes) not only is a time-honoured activity but also makes common sense: government financing can be combined with other important social goals, in particular the reduction of externalities (costs imposed on other people) by making the taxed goods more expensive. Thus two goals can be attained at the same time, whic...

Abstract Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have emerged as a public health issue of concern in Nigeria. The massive increase tobacco use amongst different population groups is common NCDs risk factor. To this effect, the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) was enacted following WHO Framework Convention on (FCTC). This article conducts policy agenda-setting analysis NTCA using Kingdon’s multiple ...

This article tells a different but equally important story about neoliberalism and global health than the narrative on structural adjustment policies usually found in the literature. Rather than focus on macroeconomic structural adjustment policies, this story draws our attention to microeconomic taxation policies on tobacco, alcohol and sugar now widely recognised as the best strategy to contr...

The Australian approach to tobacco control has been a comprehensive one, encompassing mass media campaigns, consumer information, taxation policy, access for smokers to smoking cessation advice and pharmaceutical treatments, protection from exposure to tobacco smoke and regulation of promotion. World-first legislation to standardise the packaging of tobacco was a logical next step to further re...

The structure of the book is as follows. Following the Overview, there are six sections. Section I provides brief descriptive overviews of global trends in smoking and the impact of tobacco on health, as well as a discussion of the costs of tobacco use. Section II provides an economic analysis of tobacco use, focusing on three key issues: tobacco addiction, the costs and benefits of tobacco use...

The government of Hong Kong grasped the political nettle of control of tobacco in the early 1980s, since when a comprehensive policy of legislation, education, and publicity, together with large increases in taxation on tobacco products, has been introduced. This has led to almost all of the population of Hong Kong having knowledge of the harmful effects of tobacco and of antismoking measures t...

OBJECTIVE To assess reactions of smokers to five waves of tobacco tax increases in Germany. DESIGN A 10-wave cross-sectional study, with assessments before and after the tax increases. SETTING General population of Germany. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS 10 representative samples from the general population with a total number of 27,608 people aged > or = 14 years, including 8548 smokers (31% o...

OBJECTIVES To assess progress in tobacco control policy research and the relevance of research to policy making. METHODS Over 100 experts were surveyed about their opinions on the body of research existing in 1992 and 2011 concerning 11 areas of tobacco control policy, the state of policy implementation in both years, the extent to which research has affected policy adoption and how experienc...

Global tobacco deaths are high and rising. Tobacco use is primarily driven by nicotine addiction. Overall tobacco control policy is relatively well agreed upon but a long term nicotine policy has been less well considered and requires further debate. Reaching consensus is important because a nicotine policy is integral to the target of reducing tobacco caused disease, and the contentious issues...