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DOH proposes cigarette health warning increase

"The tobacco tax needs to be at least NT$54 before it is effective in curbing smoking. Right now, it's cheaper for youths to buy a pack of cigarettes than a McDonald's meal."

Lin Shio-jean, director general of the Bureau of Health

Health warnings on cigarette packages could be enlarged to occupy as much as 50 percent of both the front and back of the package in the future, according to the Department of Health.

"In Taiwan, approximately 27 percent of adults are smokers, with 48 percent of the male population and 6 percent of the female population smoking. Each year about 17,000 people die of tobacco-related illnesses," said health department Director General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) at a conference held by the Asian Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco (APACT).

Pressed by Chen to report on the progress of anti-smoking campaigns in Taiwan, the Bureau of Health Promotion yesterday vowed to work toward making health warning labels more prominent by increasing the size of warning labels to at least 30 percent of both sides of cigarette packages and ideally 50 percent.

In addition, bureau Director General Lin Shio-jean (林秀娟) called for increases to the health and welfare surcharges imposed on tobacco products.

"Although the overall tax revenue collected from the health and welfare surcharge imposed on tobacco products is NT$10 billion each year, only 10 percent is specifically earmarked for anti-smoking campaigns," Lin said.

According to Lin, 70 percent of the tax revenue went to maintaining a safety reserve for the National Health Insurance, 10 percent to social welfare, 10 percent to tobacco hazard prevention programs, and another 10 percent to other public health measures.

Lin also explained that in Taiwan the health and welfare surcharge was only 45 percent of the overall tax imposed on tobacco products, while in other countries, the health surcharge was as much as 75 percent of the tax.

"Right now in Taiwan, NT$18 is collected in tax on tobacco products. NT$5 goes to public health initiatives. We're pushing to make it NT$8 right now. However, the real problem is that Taiwan's cigarette prices are too low, not that the tax percentage is too low," Lin said.

"The tobacco tax needs to be at least NT$54 before it is effective in curbing smoking," he said.

Right now, it's cheaper for youths to buy a pack of cigarettes than a McDonald's meal," Lin said.

International brands have also had a role in the increased number of smokers in Taiwan, according to the DOH.

Figures from the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Board indicate that while the annual per capita consumption of cigarettes was 80.2 packs in 1986, it escalated to 90 packs in 1999. Taiwan opened its cigarette market to foreign producers in 1987.

"Although there has been a decline in the number of smokers in the US, international tobacco shares are up due to market openings. Studies show that young girls prefer foreign brands. Acculturation influences are in operation here," said Ted Chen, president-elect of the APACT.

He added that in China especially, there was a significant increase in the number of female smokers.

Wick Warren of the US National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Office on Smoking and Health agreed, stating that the Global Youth Tobacco Survey indicated that worldwide there was no difference between the level of tobacco usage in male and female populations.

Meanwhile, health officials said that new educational tactics were necessary to promote awareness of tobacco health hazards among youths.

Maribel Cantada, vice president of the Tobacco-Free Philippines Foundation, said that tobacco product manufacturer Philip Morris funded the Philippines' in-school tobacco prevention programs.

She said that the manufacturer's subversive tactic of putting cigarettes in a negative light actually had the effect of turning students to smoking.

Lin said that in Taiwan, smoke-free campus programs had been implemented in just seven schools in each county or city. These schools served as an experimental group that would be useful for future evaluation of the effects of the government's in-school prevention programs.

In addition, instead of taking a position of direct authority in the smoke-free campus campaigns, Lin said that the bureau used subtler tactics, including sponsoring animation competitions and giving away VCDs that promoted the bureau's cause.
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