The government's sensational turnaround on the tobacco tax which, through an increase in cigarette packets, was supposed to finance a fund for innovative oncological drugs and palliative care. The measure was eagerly awaited by the scientific community and was unanimously approved with an amendment by the Senate Health Commission: today it was rejected precisely because of the expressed negative opinion of the Government.
The "purpose" tax was to be 1 cent per cigarette, therefore with an increase of at least 20 cents in theory, which however became in fact half a euro by virtue of the tax mechanism, for the consumer on each package on sale. An increase perhaps judged too substantial, given that the cost of tobacco had already increased in the June maneuver. At the moment the Executive has not commented on the choice, but one of the risk factors, with an increase that in proportion would have been much greater than those usually applied (about 10-20 cents each time), was considered the possible aiding and abetting of smuggling . Which would have cast serious doubt on any extra revenue of an estimated 600 million, to be allocated precisely to drugs and palliative care against cancer, especially in the pediatric field.
“I am shocked by this news and I am disappointed that the Government has had the amendment voted by all the members of the Senate Health Commission withdrawn”, commented Anna Maria Mancuso, President of Salute Donna onlus representing the cancer patient associations who had supported and promoted the amendment. “However, we only lost the first round, because the battle continues”.
Disappointment also on the part of the doctors who attended the Institutional Forum in Rome of the project "Health: an asset to defend, a right to promote". "The tax on smoking is a legitimate, ethical and useful tax for finding resources to treat cancer," commented Marco Vignetti, Researcher at the Hematology Department of the Sapienza University of Rome and Vice-President of AIL (Italian Leukemia Association). "The amendment was a mature act but also an awareness of the fact that smoking causes cancer".
“An increase in the cost of tobacco could have translated into a reduced use of cigarettes”, affirmed Salvatore Palazzo, Director of the UOC Medical Oncology Hospital of Cosenza. "This is bad news for patients because there are not enough resources and this decision may also increase their and their families' lack of trust in politics."
"Italy it is one of the industrialized countries where cigarette smoking is taxed the least and it is a big mistake because it has been demonstrated that increasing the price reduces consumption”, said Ruggero De Maria, Director of the General Pathology Institute of the Catholic University of Rome and President of the Alliance Against Cancer.
Smoking is the dumbest deadly and most expensive trap that man has ever built! It also has an invaluable advantage: sooner or later it leads to a heart attack which shortens the life of the smoker enough to spare him from dying of lung cancer! Quitting smoking is the wisest and most intelligent decision a person can make for themselves and for others, if you don't know how to do it, start here:
==> http://goo.gl/WTB0X6 <== I created it, now you can test its effectiveness…