Raipur: On the eve of National Youth Day, several youth associations appealed to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to increase taxes on all tobacco products in the upcoming Budget for 2024-25. In their appeals, they urged an increase in excise duty on all tobacco products.
The appeal comes on the eve of National Youth Day 2024, which is themed around ‘‘It’s All in The Mind’’ and calls for enabling a healthy and addiction-free growing ecosystem for the young people of the country. A strong nation, free from addictions, is possible by making tobacco products unaffordable and out of reach for young people in the country.
According to the youth groups, increasing excise on all tobacco products can be a very effective policy measure to address the immediate need to raise revenue by the central government. It will be a winning proposition for generating revenue and reducing tobacco use and related diseases.
“Tobacco use not only harms our health but is also a threat to the health of our friends and family. Additionally, tobacco users also have a greater risk of developing severe cases of cancer. I urge the youth of India to break free from dependence on tobacco and stay healthy,” said PV Sindhu, ACE Badminton Player & Olympian, Padma Bhushan & Padma Shri.
The Parliament Standing Committee on Health submitted a pertinent and comprehensive report on Cancer Care Plan and Management, undertaking a detailed study of the causes of Cancer in India. It noted with concern that in India, "the highest number of lives lost is due to oral cancer caused by tobacco, followed by cancer of the lungs, esophagus, and stomach." It also noted that tobacco use is one of the most prominent risk factors associated with cancer. In view of these alarming observations, the Committee has noted that India has one of the lowest prices for tobacco products and there is a need to increase taxes on tobacco products. The Committee recommends the Government to raise taxes on tobacco and utilize the additional revenue gained for cancer prevention and awareness.
Sharing her personal experience of how tobacco addiction took away her father, Preethi, a student at MDD Bal Bhawan School, said, “Addiction to tobacco took away my dad when I was 12 years old. I understand the pain of losing a dear one to tobacco. Tobacco should be made so unaffordable that no one loses their family or dear ones to addictions caused due to increasing accessibility of tobacco products. Increasing taxes on tobacco products will make these killer products less affordable and fetch substantial revenue for the Government.”
Raising taxes on tobacco products is the single most effective way to reduce tobacco use and save lives. In India, tobacco taxes remain well below rates that are commonly present in countries with effective tobacco control policies, making tobacco products very cheap and affordable. All tobacco products in India are under-taxed. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), raising the price of tobacco products through tax increases is the most effective policy to reduce tobacco use. Higher tobacco prices decrease affordability, encourage quitting among users, prevent initiation among non-users, and reduce the quantity consumed among continuing users. The WHO recommends that the share of excise tax for tobacco products should be increased to 75% of the retail price.
Sumith, a 10th standard student, said, “To discourage the usage of tobacco products, we have used many tools in the past. However, they all have not made any major change in the usage. The final tool left with us is to hike the tax on tobacco so that the products become unaffordable by the youngsters, who are capable of buying it using their pocket money.”
India has the second-largest number (268 million) of tobacco users in the world. Nearly 27 per cent of all cancers in India are due to tobacco. The recent Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS-2019) shows that nearly one-fifth of the students aged 13-15 years are consuming tobacco in some form. Also, in India, on average, children as young as 10 years start tobacco consumption. The total direct and indirect cost of diseases attributable to tobacco use was a staggering Rupees 182,000 crore, which is nearly 1.8% of India’s GDP.
