The increase in tobacco taxation will have no impact on the fight against smoking, assures Amadou Moustapha Gaye, president of the Senegalese League Against Tobacco (Listab). By Amadou MBODJI –
Amadou Moustapha Gaye, president of the Senegalese League Against Tobacco (Listab), is not convinced by the impact of “the increase in tobacco taxation” of 5%. He even speaks of “window dressing” when commenting on this government measure. According to him, “the measure to increase the rate of the specific tax on tobacco from 65% to 70% is out of step with the situation of non-application in which Senegal’s anti-tobacco law finds itself. This 5% increase could have been beneficial and made sense if Senegal’s anti-tobacco law, passed on March 14, 2014, was fully respected and fully applied, but the reality is that today the Ministry of Health is taking measures. measures on bases which in no way correspond to the real situation of the fight against tobacco in Senegal, and this, without any consultation with the real actors concerned. And we consider that if the Minister of Health were correctly informed of the real situation in which the fight against tobacco finds itself, he would act differently,” explains the president of Listab. He denounces this lack of consultation with those involved in the fight against smoking. “The authorities in charge of the fight against tobacco in Senegal, in the Initial Finance Law (Lfi) 2025, increased the rate of the specific tax on tobacco from 65 to 70%, all this on the sly, in total opacity , and without any consultation with the real stakeholders concerned,” regrets Mr. Gaye. If “increasing excise duties on tobacco is the best way to reduce smoking”, “improve health prospects” and increase tax revenue, limits prevent the machine from running at full speed.
“The observation is that the Minister of Health and his administration are in the same way as the last Ministers of Health of the old regime who did not take any action in the direction of advancing the fight against tobacco in the Senegal.
-We all know that Senegal’s anti-tobacco law is in abeyance, because it is not applied or respected anywhere. Tobacco taxation is largely poorly exploited in public policies in Senegal,” diagnoses Amadou Moustapha Gaye.
Even if Senegal reached “the ECOWAS tax ceiling which is 125% and the law is not applied or in arrears, as is the case, it would be of no use at all,” insists Gaye. “The taxation of tobacco products, although it is the most effective tobacco control measure to reduce smoking prevalence, is largely poorly exploited in public policies in Senegal, because it is done in a context where the anti-tobacco law of Senegal is in lethargy, a total impasse, and suffering for non-application,” he underlines. The fight against smoking, he declares, is failing. For what ? There is, lists Mr. Gaye, the “non-compliance with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and the Protocol to eliminate illicit trade in tobacco products (Secretariat of the Who Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Fcctpar) of which the African States are signatories.
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