Raising prices and taxes on cigarettes and tobacco are the best available means to control their use, but the Health Ministry is lagging in this regard, the deputy health minister Ali Akbar Sayyari said at the weekend. “However, the ministry is firmly pursuing its six-pronged strategy to reduce smoking,” he told ISNA. The strategy includes cutting access to tobacco for people under 18, a ban on smoking in public areas, raising awareness on the dangers of smoking, providing supportive measures for those who are willing to quit, increasing prices through taxes, and monitoring implementation of all the above.
