About one million in tobacco-attributable deaths could be prevented if an extra P90 in tobacco tax is added per pack of cigarettes, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday.
He said the prevalence of smoking could also be reduced from 21.6 percent of the population to a target of 15.7 percent.
“This is in line with our non-communicable diseases targets for 2025,” Duque said.
He said a Pulse Asia survey in September revealed a 67-percent public approval for increased tobacco taxes among its respondents. That means two out of every three of the Filipinos surveyed agreed that cigarette taxes should be increased.
The survey also said that 64 percent of those polled would vote for candidates who will endorse higher taxes for tobacco products.
The Health department has been pushing for higher tobacco taxes to bring better health to more Filipinos through the Universal Health Care bill.
Certified as urgent for discussion, the UHC bill passed third reading in both houses of Congress on Oct. 10 this year.
But Duque said there was still a need for increasing the taxes on sin products such as tobacco.
The available funding for UHC’s implementation is being discussed by stakeholders who are identifying several fund sources for pooling and consolidation.
The estimates also show that in the first year of its implementation, around P257 billion will be needed to introduce the reforms.
Taking into account the existing budget, the funding gap is estimated to be around P164.04 billion. Additional revenues from the proposed increase in tobacco taxes are seen as an important means to lessen the funding gaps.
The positive effects of the sin tax go beyond revenue generation. With higher prices of tobacco products, people will be less inclined to smoke, less people will get sick from smoking-related illnesses, and less expenses will be incurred on health care.
In the same Pulse Asia survey, the Health department’s approval rating increased to 79 percent from 78 percent in June 2018, which is the second highest approval rating among national government agencies.
“This is a marked improvement from where we were in March 2018 at 73 percent,” Duque said.
“It gives us great satisfaction that our relentless effort to achieve UHC is appreciated and felt.”