According to a new analysis, more than A quarter of a million deaths of minor children If those states have increased, 5 years may be avoided in low -income countries in the same year Line on cigarettes. The Expression In others, you can damage the health of small children, increase asthma, affect lung function, and further affect children with sudden infant mortality syndrome (SMSL).
This will affect them before they are born, Increase the risk of premature delivery and low birth weight. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that cigarettes should be taxed equivalent to 75% of its sales price to help reduce smoking rates. But low and middle income countries have done this.
According to the new estimates published in the ‘The Lanset Public Health’, 281,000 deaths of children under 5 years of age 75% of cigarettes can be avoided with the lines of cigarettesOf the 94 countries included in the study, 6%of more than 4.7 million young children died in 2021.
“The path that goes from tobacco tax to childhood health This is something complex“He told the EuroNuse Health ‘Martda Rade, the editor of the Carolinska Institute of the Carolinska Institute in Sweden.
In particular, the study found it Increase higher tax survival rates for cigarettes The child is higher among those who have lower incomes than the rich, and in these regions, the deaths of tobacco -related children in these regions are reduced. But by 2020, only 10 out of 94 countries of the study increased taxes for cigarettes, up to 75% of their retail value.
Avoid 74,000 deaths in poor families
In the remaining 84 countries, the tax increase I can avoid the deaths of nearly 70,000 children According to estimates, over 36,000 deaths in poorest families and in 2021 wealthy groups. Andrew Akbaje, a physician and co -professor of medical epidemic at the University of Eastern Finland, who did not participate in the new study, said, “This is very important,” he said.
However, he pointed to that There are other factors that contributeIn low -income countries such as diarrhea or mosquito -like infectious diseases, the death of children under 5 years of age. “It is a good news that the increase in taxes can have some consequences, but it is not a magical solution to solve all the problems,” he said.
However, other investigations have shown it Tobacco control has a huge impact on. Some new authors of the new study have already analyzed how child deaths can affect the price of cigarettes, and 23 in EU countries Especially. In both cases, the increase in prices has been found to have been translated into a large number of children who survived the first birthday.
For his part, Akbajee said in addition to Second -Hand Stop Smoke Exposure In the womb or childhood, people need to do more to prevent people from getting hit with health problems later. “If we win (in tax increases), do we have enough ways to prevent children from taking tobacco?” He asked. “Otherwise, the damage we are trying to stop from the beginning will be missed.”
