WHO has joined forces with VISA NGO and the College of Cape Town to assess the influence of increasing well being taxes in Mauritius. Using a simulation instrument, the stumble on examined how tax hikes affect tobacco exercise, government revenues, and premature deaths.
📊 A 15% annual cigarette tax increase may perhaps well:
Boost excise income by 55%
Reduce smoking prevalence from 18.1% to 17.4%
Discontinue 11,600 premature deaths by 2029
Remarkable extra formidable circulate—a 25% annual increase—may perhaps well:
Double excise revenues
Lower smoking prevalence to 16.3%
Attach 19,300 lives by 2029
On 20 June 2025, WHO convened excessive-stage officers from the Ministries of Well being and Finance to keep in touch about the findings, introduced by the College of Cape Town’s Learn Unit on the Economics of Excisable Merchandise and a WHO taxation expert.
WHO and VISA echoed the stumble on’s demand ordinary, major tax increases—one in every of the excellent ways to curb noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
Earlier, on 26 Would perhaps well, VISA and WHO introduced the findings to key stakeholders including the Mauritius Revenue Authority, Ministries of Training and Formative years, the College of Mauritius, NGOs, and client groups.
WHO furthermore applauded the Govt’s most up-to-date decision to raise taxes by 10% on tobacco and alcohol, and 100% on sugary drinks, extending it to products fancy chocolate and ice cream.
“This is a reward to public well being,” said Dr. Anne Ancia, WHO Representative. “Increased costs on unhealthy products aid decrease consumption—especially in a nation the set up obesity, diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases are leading causes of loss of life and incapacity.”
Dr. Ancia furthermore stressed the pressing contain to set up into sign the Tobacco Legislation 2022, seriously the ban on single-stick sales, which undermines progress in reducing tobacco exercise via better costs.
