Experts call for tobacco and alcohol tax revenue to fund quit clinics
Universiti Malaya Epidemiologist and Public Health Medicine Specialist Professor Dr Sanjay Rampal, however, said the taxes should be specifically earmarked for quit clinics.
He said extra tobacco tax ideally should go to quit smoking clinics while alcohol tax should be earmarked for quit alcohol clinics.
"I think this (pro-health taxes) is a good move.
"What we want to avoid is insufficient allocations for programmes that help the public quit these behaviours despite a sin tax increase," he told the New Straits Times.
He was responding to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's announcement when tabling the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) today that Putrajaya would expand "pro-health" taxes, including those on tobacco, vape and alcohol products, in a bid to curb the rise in NCDs.
Anwar said the government must be firm in addressing health risks.
He also said that pro-health taxes would be expanded beyond sugar to include products such as tobacco, vape and alcohol, not merely for revenue, but to drive behavioural change and curb the worrying rise in NCDs.
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