Larger taxes should be placed on cigarettes around the world, experts have warned – with progress on tackling tobacco use having slowed for the first time in years according to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report.
In the past decade the number of countries with at least one tobacco control measure in place – whether that’s increased taxes, health warnings on packages, bans on advertising or smoking in public places – jumped from roughly 45 to more than 150. But of the six such tobacco control measures recommended by the WHO, making cigarettes and other tobacco products more expensive through taxes has seen least progress.
