In Lebanon, where more than 34 percent of the population smokes — a rate among the highest in the world — the World Health Organization (WHO), affiliated with the U.N., has issued a series of measures and recommendations which it said could prevent "up to 40,000 premature deaths in the next 15 years."
If implemented, these recommendations could also allow Lebanon to "avoid more than $400 million in economic losses." Indeed, a case study on investment in tobacco control — whose results were announced in Beirut on Monday by the Health Ministry with the WHO and the UNDP, the main U.N. international development agency — indicates that the cost of smoking amounts to $140 million annually, equivalent to 1.9 percent of the Lebanese GDP, according to a statement received by L'Orient-Le-Jour.
This figure includes significant healthcare expenses, productivity losses and major impacts on human development. To address this, WHO reiterated a series of anti-tobacco measures it advises Lebanese authorities to implement.
Increase in tobacco taxes
Among the key measures proposed by WHO, a significant increase in tobacco taxes tops the list. This price increase would act as a deterrent lever for smokers, all the more so since tobacco prices in Lebanon are among the lowest in the world.
While this measure would also offer a solution to replenish state coffers, one of the arguments often made to justify the absence of such an increase is the risk of promoting smuggling, which would harm public revenues.
In 2024, the Constitutional Council had suspended the application of Article 83 of the budget which provided for an increase in taxes on imported tobacco, as well as electronic cigarettes.
Dr. Ghazi Zaatari, a tobacco specialist at the WHO, in an interview with our publication in 2024, specified that each dollar added to the price of a pack of cigarettes would result in a 6 to 7 percent reduction in consumption.
Smoke-free public spaces and workplaces
Another initiative is to create entirely smoke-free public spaces and workplaces to eliminate passive exposure to tobacco smoke. Although Article 4 of Law 174, adopted in Lebanon in August 2011 by Parliament, stipulates a smoking ban in enclosed public spaces, it is violated or applied randomly.
Other measures include imposing warnings about the health risks of tobacco consumption and adopting plain packaging devoid of any distinctive branding elements.
Currently, cigarette and shisha tobacco packs only carry a minimal and discreet warning: "This product is harmful to health and causes addiction."
Raising awareness among the youth
WHO also proposes raising public awareness about tobacco control issues, including the risks linked to consumption and passive smoking, addiction, and the benefits of quitting.
According to a survey conducted in 2020 by the Generation Without Tobacco organization, in 10 years, tobacco consumption in Lebanon has skyrocketed, particularly among young people. One in three young people now smokes, compared to one in four a decade ago. Among adolescents aged 13 to 15, 40 percent already smoke, whether cigarettes or shisha. The age at which smoking begins has also drastically decreased: From ages 13-14 a few years ago, it is now observed as early as ages 11-12, marking a particularly early start to nicotine addiction.
Training professionals, combating illicit trade
WHO further encourages promoting smoking cessation and dependency treatment by training health professionals who, in turn, will play a key role in providing brief advice to help smokers quit. It also recommends strengthening the capacity to combat the illicit tobacco trade and implementing measures to protect public health policies from the commercial interests and other influences of the tobacco industry.
At the event held on Monday, Health Minister Rakan Nassereldine indicated that tobacco control is not only a "health priority" but also a "sound economic investment." Tobacco imposes "an exorbitant cost on our health system, reduces economic productivity, and wastes resources that Lebanon can no longer afford to lose," he said.
The ministry was not immediately available to discuss the implementation of these recommendations.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
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