Economics of Tobacco Control : The Maldives
This paper summarizes briefly the general economic situation in the Maldives and describes its health care system, demographics and health outcomes. Mortality and life expectancy have been improving, but cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/11/3355901/economics-tobacco-control-maldives http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13776 |
| Summary: | This paper summarizes briefly the
general economic situation in the Maldives and describes its
health care system, demographics and health outcomes.
Mortality and life expectancy have been improving, but
cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and cancers are the
top causes of death; smoking is a risk factor for all of
them. Tobacco imports have been increasing, although changes
in the import duty appears to have caused a significant
decrease in 2000. Cigarettes account for most of the tobacco
product imports and are smoked by 40 percent of all tobacco
product users. Chewing tobacco is also commonly used, by 30
percent of tobacco users. Overall, tobacco use prevalence is
high by international standards: in 1997, 57 percent of men
and 29 percent of women used some form of tobacco.
Prevalence is higher among island communities than in the
capital. Prices of cigarettes have been fairly stable, with
some price rises from 2000. Government revenues from tobacco
import duties have risen, but are less than 2 percent of
total import duty revenues. Policy recommendations are to
ensure regular real price increases in all tobacco products
to deter use, accompanied by actions to detect and deter
smuggling, better surveillance and monitoring of tobacco
use, improvements in the system of reporting cause of death,
and more cessation support to raise quit rates. |
|---|