A 45% Increase in Cigarette Prices Will Prevent Approximately 88,000 Premature Deaths, Torosyan

Health Minister Arsen Torosyan wrote on his Facebook page: “The 45% increase in cigarette prices will prevent approximately 88,000 premature deaths among those who quit smoking and those who have never started. When I talk about evidence-based policy, I also mean studies like this one. It was conducted in April 2017 by experts from Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the World Bank. The title of the research is 'Assessment of the Distributive Impact of Increased Taxes on Tobacco Products in Armenia: Results of an Extended Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.' The key findings of this analysis were presented ahead of the complete text in Armenian.”

He emphasized that he will soon present the experiences of many countries regarding how the increase in excise taxes on tobacco leads to an increase in tax revenues, in response to claims to the contrary.