HONG KONG, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) on Thursday suggested a heavier tax on cigarettes so as to double cigarette prices in an effort to cut the number of smokers in Hong Kong.
According to COSH, about 10.5 percent of people in Hong Kong are smokers and they currently pay about 57 Hong Kong dollars (about 7.3 U.S. dollars) for a pack of cigarettes.
The organization urged the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to impose a 100-percent cigarette tax increase, which will raise the retail price of a pack to about 100 Hong Kong dollars (about 12.8 U.S. dollars) and reduce the smoking population to 5 percent or below in 2027.
Cigarette prices are low in Hong Kong compared with other developed economies such as Canada, Britain, Singapore and Australia, COSH said, citing a recent survey in which current smokers commented that the cigarette retail price should be increased to 293 Hong Kong dollars (about 37.5 U.S. dollars) per pack on average to effectively motivate them to quit smoking.
COSH said it will also advocate long-term and comprehensive policies such as ban on tobacco product display at points of sale, extension of smoke-free areas, increasing the legal tobacco sales age, tightened enforcement, and allocating more resources for smoking cessation services and smoke-free education, in order to lower smoking prevalence to 5 percent or below and achieve the Tobacco Endgame goal in Hong Kong in 2027.
