烟草经济：导致中国贫困、落后的成瘾经济
世界卫生组织和联合国开发计划署新发布的联合报告强调，本世纪吸烟相关疾病将导致2亿多中国人死亡。如果不采取重要举措减少中国的烟草依赖，大部分死亡将会发生在中国最贫穷和最脆弱的人群之间。
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本文为世界卫生组织和联合国开发计划署发布的联合新闻稿。
《中国无法承受的代价——烟草流行给中国造成的健康、经济和社会损失》是由世界卫生组织和联合国开发计划署合著的突破性报告。该报告于今日发布，探讨了烟草对于中国发展所造成的健康、社会和经济损失，及概述了可以避免数百万人死亡的控烟措施。
中国是世界上最大的烟草生产国和消费国，中国消费世界上多达44%的卷烟。每年有100多万中国人因烟草相关疾病而死亡。
施贺德博士
世界卫生组织驻华代表
“如果不采取措施减少上述人数，如果不逐步实施更多控烟政策，后果将会更加严重。这不仅会影响中国人民健康，还会殃及中国整体经济。报告显示，中国因烟草使用产生的相关损失增长迅速，不符合可持续发展。2014年中国由于烟草使用而导致的经济总损失约为3500亿元（570亿美元），比2000年增加了十倍。”
这些预计增加的损失将导致多领域出现负溢出效应，除了会影响社会福利和卫生系统，还会对中国的经济和商业发展带来更多挑战。如果不采取快速果断的行动，所产生的诸多压力会加剧全国不断增长的贫富差异。本报告所述建议提供了将为中国健康带来巨大益处的一揽子综合烟草控制政策。
可持续发展目标（SDGs）要求各国政府在未来15年内将由非传染性疾病造成的过早死亡减少三分之一，而烟草是造成非传染性疾病流行的主要风险因素之一。
烟草使用给中国造成的经济总损失，2000-2014
罗世礼先生
联合国开发计划署驻华代表
“通过执行可持续发展目标，国际社会认识到对于更广泛的健康与发展而言，控烟是需要优先考虑的一大议题。”
“如果不采取严肃行动解决烟草对于中国的巨大威胁，我们将无法实现可持续发展目标，及其创建更公平、健康和可持续的世界的愿景。现在实行报告所提到的相关政策将对终结贫困及倡导健康生活方式产生深远影响，并有助于在2030年前实现所有可持续发展目标。”
报告的主要一项建议是实施一部全面的全国无烟立法，即要求所有室内公共场所100%全面无烟。中国四大一线城市中已有三个城市——北京、深圳和上海——已经通过并开始施行了全面的控烟条例。
2015年5月中国财政部宣布增加卷烟消费税，该举措非常有效并使得卷烟零售价有所上涨。2015年，卷烟销量出现了近20年的首次同比下降，而政府税收也较2014年增加，实现了真正的双赢。但是，卷烟价格的增幅远远低于薪酬的平均涨幅，使得卷烟在中国的可负担性逐渐提高。报告呼吁将卷烟的零售价提高50%，并保持价格增长。实施这一措施可以减少4700多万名男性吸烟者，以及在未来50年内避免2000万人过早死亡。在避免的过早死亡的人群中，半数以上来自于收入最低的两个群体（中等偏下收入人群和低收入人群）。
若中国提高烟草消费税，在未来50年可避免过早死亡的人数
郝福满先生
世界银行中国、蒙古和
韩国局局长
“提高烟草税是减少烟草使用最有效的途径之一，同时也为健康和其他基本项目带来大量收入，并最终惠及全人类。”
烟草使用所造成的健康和更广泛的社会、经济和环境损失是中国无法承受的代价。
胡鞍钢教授
清华大学国情研究院院长
“当中国领导人致力于颁布宏伟的《‘健康中国’2030规划纲要》时更是如此。执行一揽子强有力的控烟措施根本上是以帮助贫穷人群为目标，中国将在宏伟纲要中采取重要举措消除贫困，减少全国范围内现有的不平等与社会差距。”
世界卫生组织在其驻华代表处举办了该报告举办的新闻发布会，联合国开发计划署、媒体和重要经济学家均受邀参加，支持加大行动来遏制中国烟草流行。
点击“阅读原文”，了解报告详细内容。
Tobacco - China’s addiction to an outdated and impoverishing economy
Joint media release by WHO and UNDP
Smoking-related diseases are on track to claim more than 200 million lives in China this century, a new joint WHO/UNDP report warns. The majority of these deaths will occur in China’s poorest and most vulnerable communities unless critical steps are taken to reduce China’s dependency on tobacco.
The Bill China Cannot Afford: Health Economic and Social Costs of China’s Tobacco Epidemic is a groundbreaking report co-authored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The report, launched today, explores the current health, social and economic costs of tobacco on China’s development, and outlines the tobacco control measures that could avert many millions of deaths.
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco, and a staggering 44% of the world’s cigarettes are smoked in China. Over one million lives a year are lost in this country from tobacco-related diseases.
“If nothing is done to reduce these numbers and introduce more progressive policies, the consequences could be devastating not just for the health of people across the country, but also for China’s economy as a whole. The rapid increase in costs associated with tobacco use in China is unsustainable, the report reveals, estimating the total annual economic cost in 2014 at RMB 350 billion (USD 57 billion), an increase of 1000% since 2000,” said Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, WHO Representative in China.
Projected increases in these costs will lead to negative spillover effects across many sectors, placing increasing challenges to Chinese economy and businesses, in addition to the social welfare and health systems. Without rapid and decisive action, these pressures will exacerbate already growing inequalities across the country. The recommendations outlined in this report provide a comprehensive policy package that will bring enormous benefits to health in China.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) now commit governments to reduce premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third over the next 15 years. Tobacco is one of the main risk factors driving the NCDs epidemic.
Total economic costs of tobacco use in China, 2000-2014
“In the adopting of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the international community recognized that tobacco control is a priority issue, for health and for development more broadly,” said Nicholas Rosellini, UNDP Resident Representative in China. “Without taking serious action to tackle the huge threat tobacco poses towards China, we will have difficulty reaching the SDGs vision of a more equitable, healthy and sustainable world. This report will be key to ensuring that policies adopted now have long-lasting effects for ending poverty, promoting healthy lives and contributing to meeting all 2030 SDG targets.”
The implementation of a national smoke free law, requiring all indoor public places to be 100% smoke free, is one of the key recommendations in the report. Three of China’s four Tier 1 cities – Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai – have already passed and are currently implementing comprehensive smoke-free laws.
The last tobacco tax increase announced by the Ministry of Finance in May 2015 was significant in that it led to a slight rise in the retail price of cigarettes. Compared to 2014, 2015 saw a reduction in sales of cigarettes for the first time in twenty years, while government revenues have increased – a real win-win situation. However, the increase in price for cigarettes has been significantly lower than the average increase in salaries, making cigarettes in China increasingly more affordable. The report calls for increasing the retail price of cigarettes by 50% and sustaining future price increases. This could lead to 47 million fewer male smokers and 20 million fewer premature deaths averted over 50 years as a result. More than half of these averted deaths would be in the two lowest income quintiles.
Impact of excise tax rises on premature deaths averted (in millions) in China, over 50 years
“Raising tobacco taxes is one of the most cost-effective measures to reduce tobacco consumption, while also generating substantial revenue for health and other essential programs – investments that ultimately benefit the entire population,” said Mr Bert Hofman, World Bank Country Director for China, Mongolia and Korea..
Overall, the health and broader social, economic and environmental costs of tobacco use add up to a bill that China cannot afford. “This is especially true as China’s leaders have committed to an ambitious Healthy China 2030 agenda. Implementing a strong package of tobacco control policies that are fundamentally targeted towards helping poorer communities, China will take important steps in its bold agenda to eliminate poverty and to reduce existing inequities and social disparities across the country”, said Professor Hu Angang, Dean of Institute for Contemporary China Studies from Tsinghua University.
The report was launched at a media event at WHO’s Beijing office, bringing together WHO and UNDP, World Bank, media and leading economists in support of increased action to combat China’s tobacco epidemic.
To download the full report, please click "Read more" in below.