Economics for Health - EfH

11/18/2025

In the 🇵🇭, 🆕 results show that illicit ***co trade is driven by gaps in enforcement, not to***co taxes 🔎

We worked with Action for Economic Reforms to estimate illicit trade in 8️⃣ cities & found:

- 3️⃣ indicators of illicit ******es: sold below the minimum price, tax stamp violations, & smuggled, unregistered brand; and

- significant variation in illicit trade, with much higher levels in port cities with free trade like General Santos and Zamboanga 🌏

These findings highlight opportunities to strengthen border controls & regulations in areas with a larger illicit market, while continuing to raise to***co taxes to reduce consumption 📈

Learn more in our 👇
https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/illicit-to***co-trade-in-the-philippines-findings-from-sari-sari-store-surveys-and-empty-pack-audits/

11/14/2025

The newly operational Tax Policy Office in 🇵🇰 provides an opportunity to align ***co taxes with both fiscal & goals 📈

An from our colleagues at Social Policy and Development Centre examines the implications of this institutional shift on ***cocontrol aims 👇

The recent establishment of the Tax Policy Office (TPO)—separating the critical function of tax policy design from...

11/13/2025

In the 🇪🇺, adjusting the minimum tax on ******es by the cost of living would ensure a comparable tax burden across Member States 🔎

A 🆕 brief from UPCT Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena suggests:
- a fixed rate for 2/3 of the minimum rate &
- an adjustment by living standards for 1/3 of the minimum excise rate.

Thus, most countries would not need to reach the proposed nominal minimum of €215 per 1,000 ci******es, while some would have to reach above 📊

Learn more about the implications for 👇

https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/impact-of-the-revision-of-the-european-union-to***co-tax-directive-the-adjustment-of-minimum-excises-by-differences-in-the-cost-of-living/

11/12/2025

Our 🆕 note on the principles of taxation is live 🎉

Together with our colleagues, we determined 6️⃣ key principles to ensure that alcohol are effective in improving population health, while raising revenues for the government 📈

Learn more about the conclusions from 👇
https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/the-principles-of-alcohol-taxation/
.. check out the slides from Economics for Health - EfH's director 👇
https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/the-principles-of-alcohol-taxation-presentation
.. and view the launch if you missed it 👇
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4FE6QLMc8w

11/06/2025

📢 Next week, Action for Economic Reforms will be releasing our co-produced report on illicit ***co trade in the 🇵🇭

Learn more about the findings from 8️⃣ cities & implications for , happening:

🗓️ November 10th at 9pm ET
📹 live on AER's page

How can the Philippines curb illicit to***co trade? 🚭

Action for Economic Reforms formally launches "The Illicit To***co Trade in the Philippines Report", a comprehensive study examining the spread of illegal ci******es and the policy measures needed to address this growing problem.

Join us on November 11, 2025, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, together with researchers, advocates and policymakers as we unpack this critical economic and public health issue.

Catch the full presentation live here on our page. Stay tuned for updates and insights!

This event is presented by Action for Economic Reforms and Sin Tax Coalition (Bawas Bisyo) in partnership with Economics for Health - EfH .

11/03/2025

We are excited to announce our upcoming on designing effective taxes to save lives 🎉

Join us on Monday, November 10th at 10am ET to learn about the 6️⃣ key principles of alcohol from:

- PAHO-WHO 🌎,
- National Treasury of South Africa 🇿🇦,
- Action for Economic Reforms 🇵🇭 , and
- Economics for Health - EfH's own, Jeffrey Drope!

Register below to hear about this 🆕 policy note from 👇

https://vitalstrategies.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NbAGMK1NQiuheaxks7KiVQ #/registration

10/30/2025

In 🇧🇷, raising the price of alcoholic beverages would discourage consumption & prevent -related deaths 🔎

A 🆕 technical note based on the Universidade Católica de Brasília Alcohol Tax Simulator shows that:

- raising the price of a can of BRL 1 would reduce consumption 1️⃣8️⃣% and
- applying a similar structure to beer, wine, spirits, & cachaça would reduce overall consumption 2️⃣0️⃣% & prevent >10,000 alcohol-related deaths.

Learn more about these findings in 👇
https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/technical-note-on-estimated-impact-of-alcohol-tax-reform-in-brazil/
.. and in 👇
https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/portuguese-nota-tecnica-sobre-impacto-estimado-da-reforma-tributaria-do-alcool-no-brasil/

10/29/2025

Congratulations to our colleagues at ARK Foundation, Bangladesh on their in To***co Induced Diseases 🎉

In 🇧🇩, the ***co tax structure incentivizes low-price ******es with a lower tax rate. The researchers estimate that this expansion of the low-price tier reduced government revenues by BDT 22.1 billion 📉

Learn about the potential revenue gains from raising the minimum price & increasing the tax rate for low-price ci******es 👇

https://www.to***coinduceddiseases.org/Expansion-of-low-price-cigarette-market-and-its-implications-for-cigarette-tax-revenue,209145,0,2.html

10/21/2025

Last week, Economics for Health - EfH hosted our & regional meeting in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰

We discussed progress on ***co tax policies in 9️⃣ countries, along with the challenges teams are facing. This cross-border collaboration & knowledge-sharing is crucial to our work & achieving a impact 🌏

Thank you to all of the participants for your enthusiastic participation! We look forward to continuing to collaborate in the future.

Check out existing and stay tuned for 🆕 findings 👇

https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/ #512

10/14/2025

The 2019 economic crisis in 🇱🇧 devalued currency & resulted in changes to income distribution, yet did not significantly reduce prevalence 🔎

A 🆕 from American University of Beirut (AUB) found that:
- 66% of respondents were regular in 2024 and
- 61% of smokers consumed Cedars, a cheap local brand in 2024, up from 32% pre-2019.

Disposable income & prices of foreign brands also decreased after the crisis, reducing the price gap b/w foreign & local brands but remaining unaffordable for most 📉

Learn more about these findings 👇

https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/to***co-prevalence-in-lebanon-post-crisis/

10/09/2025

In our 🆕est blog, Economics for Health - EfH looks back at ***co tax increases around the world in summer 2025 🌍

14 countries across 5️⃣ regions took steps towards strengthening to***co taxes, but there is still much room for improvement to align with best practices 📈

Learn more about this progress & our recommendations 👇

The newly released 3rd edition of the To***conomics Cigarette Tax Scorecard scores cigarette tax policy performance in 170 countries on a five-point scale using data from the World Health Organization's biennial Report on the Global To***co Epidemic, providing policy makers with an actionable assess...

10/07/2025

[SPANISH] En 🇪🇨, el costo económico anual del consumo de asciende a $355,89 millones de dólares, debido al gasto en salud y a las pérdidas de productividad 🔎

Aumentar el precio de una cajetilla de *******os de $6,20 a $9,50 reduciría la prevalencia del consumo a 7,6% y además:

- generaría $42,5 millones de dólares adicionales como ingresos por impuestos cada año &
- permitiría recuperar $209,54 millones de dólares para la economía en 5 años 📈

Conoce más en esta 🆕 de política 👇

https://www.economicsforhealth.org/research/spanish-el-aumento-a-los-impuestos-al-tabaco-una-herramienta-para-recuperar-los-costos-sociales-del-consumo-de-tabaco-en-ecuador/

& revisa la herramienta Cost Recovery and Revenue Estimator elaborada por American Cancer Society, Vital Strategies, y Economics for Health - EfH 👇

https://to***coatlas.org/corre/