Can raising tobacco taxes reduce smoking rates?

In response to the harmful effects of tobacco, on June 14, the revised Law on Special Consumption Tax was passed by the National Assembly with the approval of the majority of delegates. Accordingly, tobacco is one of the items subject to special consumption tax, with a tax rate of 75%. The imposition of high tax rates on tobacco is expected to reduce the demand for tobacco consumption and reduce the risk of diseases caused by tobacco.

Mr. Tran Kim Tai (residing in Cam My district) was saved by doctors after suffering from an acute myocardial infarction due to smoking for many years. Photo: BSCC

Three times of emergency electric shock to the man with myocardial infarction

On June 18, specialist doctor I Nguyen Thi Kim Ha, Deputy Director of Cam My District Medical Center, said that doctors saved the man from death while he was waiting for test results.

Previously, on June 13, Mr. Tran Kim Tai, 44 years old, residing in Xuan My commune, Cam My district, went to Cam My Medical Center for a medical examination because he had chest pains the day before. The patient did not cough or have a fever, and while waiting for test results, he suddenly fainted.

Immediately, the patient was taken to the emergency room by doctors and nurses with cyanosis, low SPO2, only 68% (normal 95%), no pulse, and torsade de pointes on the ECG. Doctors gave the patient an oxygen mask and performed external cardiac compression using the electric shock method.

“After 3 electric shocks, the patient began to wake up, less agitated, and his SPO2 also increased to 85% of his pulse. The ECG results showed that the patient had atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response and a large anterior myocardial infarction,” said Dr. Ha.

According to Dr. Ha, the patient had no history of previous cardiovascular disease. However, the patient had smoked for many years. Fortunately, the patient suffered a heart attack at the hospital and received timely emergency care. In this case, if the patient had stayed at home, the risk of death would have been very high.

After first aid, doctors at Cam My Medical Center transferred Mr. Tai to higher-level hospitals for further treatment. At Thong Nhat General Hospital, specialist 2 Dr. Tran Minh Thanh, Head of the Interventional Cardiology Department, said that the patient was still in serious condition, suffering from cardiogenic shock due to anterior myocardial reperfusion (most severe form).

Therefore, Mr. Tai had a coronary stent placed by the doctors immediately upon admission. The first stent was placed right at the blocked blood vessel, causing a myocardial infarction. After that, the patient will continue to have another stent placed to treat the remaining damage. Doctor Thanh added that the rate of cardiogenic shock has a mortality rate of up to 50%.

“After this treatment, the patient is stable and discharged from the hospital, but it is mandatory to quit smoking and control risk factors such as high blood pressure to avoid the risk of a heart attack again. If the patient continues to smoke, the coronary arteries will narrow very quickly, which can cause a heart attack recurrence leading to death. The second heart attack recurrence will be much more severe than the first,” Dr. Thanh emphasized.

Doctor Thanh warns that long-term smoking will cause chronic atherosclerosis in all blood vessels in the body. Atherosclerotic plaques will gradually narrow the blood vessels, which can result in sudden death (myocardial infarction) and cerebral infarction.

Increase taxes and prices to reduce tobacco use

Faced with the harmful effects of tobacco, and in the context of low prices of tobacco, alcohol and beer in Vietnam leading to increased consumption, the revised Law on Special Consumption Tax was recently passed by the National Assembly on the morning of June 14, with 448/454 delegates present voting in favor (93.72% of the total number of National Assembly delegates).

According to the revised law, tobacco is one of the items subject to special consumption tax, with a tax rate of 75%. The draft law stipulates that from 2027, tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, and tobacco will be subject to an absolute tax rate, instead of a tax rate. Specifically, the absolute tax on cigarettes from January 1, 2027 is 2,000 VND/pack, gradually increasing to 10,000 VND/pack in 2031. Cigars will have a tax rate of 20,000 VND/cigar in 2027 and increase to 100,000 VND/cigar from 2031.

Increasing taxes and prices on cigarettes to reduce the rate of smokers. Photo: Bich Nhan

The high tax on cigarettes is expected to reduce the demand for cigarettes, alcohol and beer. Many people expressed their agreement with this tax increase.

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Dung (residing in Tan Hiep ward, Bien Hoa city) believes that a 100% tax on cigarettes should be imposed. In fact, in public places, many people smoke carelessly, one cigarette after another, without caring or paying attention to the elderly, children or pregnant women around them...

“The smell of cigarettes is bad, and after smoking, people throw the cigarette butts right there, which looks very dirty. This is a very necessary step to protect public health. I hope that increasing taxes will help reduce the number of smokers, especially young people,” said Ms. Dung.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tu (living in Hoa An ward, Bien Hoa city) said that high tax on cigarettes is necessary. Cigarettes are extremely harmful to health. Therefore, high tax is the right thing to do to limit consumption and offset social health costs.

"Currently, the young generation has easy access to cigarettes, even teenagers and children can go to grocery stores anywhere to buy cigarettes. Therefore, in addition to increasing taxes, I think the State needs to ban the sale of cigarettes to children under 18 years old, so that children do not have many opportunities to access cigarettes. In addition, there should be heavy penalties for cigarette smuggling" - Mr. Tu emphasized.

Bich Nhan

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/y-te/202506/tang-thue-thuoc-la-co-the-giam-ty-le-hut-thuoc-da20ac7/