孩子们口袋里的零花钱都去哪了？能想象到的用途不外呼文具、玩具、零食、电影……但你知道吗，孩子们还会用这些零花钱来买烟。
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在中国，孩子们获取人生第一支烟的成本有时只需不到3毛钱（以“支”购买），近乎唾手可得。这带来的可怕影响是：82.3％的13-15岁吸烟的青少年第一次尝试吸烟的年龄为13岁，且每十名初中男生就有一名吸烟。烟草企业将这视为市场机会，大举投资，向中国的青少年推广他们的产品。
不过，解决方法也十分简单。
国际经验已知，提高卷烟零售价格是减少青少年吸烟的最有效措施之一。年轻人对税收和价格上涨的敏感度比成年人高两到三倍，这意味着，更高的烟草税对于防止青少年染上终生烟瘾是非常有效的。
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今天，对外经济贸易大学世界卫生组织烟草控制与经济政策合作中心在北京发布了其针对国民烟草税价态度的最新调查报告——《提高烟草税价，让青少年远离危害》，其中超过八成的被访者认为青少年吸烟现象严重。
许传兴先生
世界卫生组织驻华代表处
无烟草行动技术官员
“在美国、南非、菲律宾、韩国和智利等国，我们看到在大幅提高烟草税后，带来了青少年吸烟率的下降。中国卷烟如此廉价，如果想要防止孩子们开始吸烟，就必须大幅提高烟草税价。我们要让卷烟不再易得，尤其是对孩子这样的弱势群体。”
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这些结论也得到绝大多数调查报告受访者的支持。近80%的被访者认为，只有卷烟价格翻倍，升至人民币20元/包或更高（现卷烟平均价格为10元/包），才能有效防止青少年尝试第一支烟。除此之外，相当程度的被访者（82%）认同将提高烟草价格所增加的烟草税收应用于包括公共医疗和卫生的民生事业。
2015年5月的提税措施使得卷烟零售价有所上涨。但卷烟在中国仍然是非常廉价的商品，如不进一步持续提高烟草税价，随着人们消费水平的提高，卷烟会变得更加“廉价”。与调查受访者的想法相呼应，中国的控烟专家们也在努力，推动烟草税和价格的定期上调，并以通胀为指数。增加的额外税收可再投资于其他控烟和卫生优先事项。
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为了孩子的健康未来，和健康中国2030的伟大愿景，烟草这样的致命商品必须价高不可攀、远离稚嫩孩子们的世界。让我们一起努力，实现真正的无烟下一代。
Return pocket money to a healthy future of children
Where does your kids’ pocket money go? For the most part we imagine it is used for toys, snacks, and, movies. But did you know that, too often, kids spend their pocket money on cigarettes? In China, the cost of their first cigarette can be less than 0.3RMB (purchased by stick), easily afforded by a kid. And it’s having an insidious effect: Amongst 13-15 year olds, 82.3% of students first tried smoking by the age of 13. And for every 10 male middle school students, one is already a regular smoker. Tobacco companies view this as a market opportunity, investing heavily to market their products to China’s youth.
There is an easy solution.
We know from international experience that one of the most effective ways to cut youth smoking is to raise the retail price. Young people are two to three times more sensitive to tax and price increases than adults, which means that higher tobacco taxes are highly effective to preventing youth from developing a lifelong addiction.
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Today the WHO Collaborating Centre on Tobacco and Economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing published a survey on Chinese attitudes to tobacco price, tax, and youth smoking. More than 80% interviewees reported their concerns about youth smoking rates.
“In countries such as diverse as the U.S., South Africa, Philippines, Republic of Korea, and Chile, we have seen reductions in youth smoking rates following substantial tobacco tax increases. Given that cigarettes are so cheap in China, and if we want to keep our kids from starting to smoke, a substantial increase of tobacco tax and price is a must. We need to make cigarettes less affordable especially to our younger more vulnerable populations.”
-- Mr Kelvin Khow, the technical officer of Tobacco Free Initiative in WHO China
Such conclusions are supported by survey respondents. Nearly 80% indicated that cigarette prices would have to at least double to 20RMB/pack (currently it averages at around 10RMB/pack) to effectively prevent youth from taking up their first cigarette. In addition, a vast majority of respondents (82%) agreed that the increased revenues collected through a higher tobacco tax should be used to improve people's livelihood, including public health. The last tobacco tax increase in May 2015 led to a slight rise in the retail price of cigarettes. However, cigarettes are still incredibly cheap in China – which means they become more affordable over time unless there are further, regular tax increases. Echoing the survey respondents, China’s tobacco control champions are pushing for regular increases on tobacco tax and price, indexed against inflation. The extra revenue should be reserved for tobacco control and other public health priorities.
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If we want to ensure a healthy future for our kids, and in order to realize the ambitious vision of Healthy China 2030, we need to ensure that such a deadly product like tobacco remains out of reach and unaffordable to our kids. Let’s make the dream of a tobacco-free next generation come true!
