Options for Tobacco Taxation in Afghanistan

World Bank Group

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: TOBACCO USE;    DISEASE;    TOBACCO CONTROL;    TOBACCO TAX;    TOBACCO CONSUMPTION;   

RP-ID  :  AUS0000547

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents options for tobaccotaxation to reduce tobacco consumption and increasefinancing for health programs in Afghanistan. Tobaccoconsumption is compromising the health of the Afghanpopulation, particularly the poor. Lowering tobaccoconsumption would help progress towards Universal HealthCoverage by reducing the tobacco-related burden of disease(mortality and morbidity). This paper presents policyoptions for the Government of Afghanistan to reduce tobaccoconsumption and improve health outcomes. Tobacco taxationcould serve the dual purpose of reducing consumption andgenerating additional tax revenue to spend on healthcare forthe poor. Increasing total taxes to 46 percent of the importprice is estimated to generate USD 19.7 million ofadditional tax revenue per year while reducing domesticconsumption of cigarettes by at least 5 percent. This paperhas five sections. The first section analyzes tobaccoconsumption in Afghanistan by socioeconomic and demographiccharacteristics. The second section describes the burden ofdisease associated with tobacco and its effect on health atthe provincial level. The third section discusses currentpolicies of tobacco control and current practices of tobaccopricing and taxation, including a brief overview of thecomplex relationship between government and privatestakeholders. The fourth section discusses options fortobacco taxation in Afghanistan. The final section applies asimulation model to estimate health and revenue outcomes ofadditional tobacco taxation.