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Implementing the maximum legally allowable tobacco tax rates could prevent between 1.7 and 4.0 million tobacco-related deaths among smokers and generate additional revenues of US$ 3.2 to 6.5 billion. Doubling the tobacco tax could increase employment by more than one quarter of a million jobs.

Bidis are under-taxed compared to cigarettes, taking into account the health risks of each, and therefore, on health grounds, a strong case can be made for increasing the excise burden on bidis.

Governments can raise significant revenue through cigarette taxes without placing a large net burden on the poor. Indeed, for most parameter values our calculations suggest that tobacco taxes are progressive.

In September 2008, Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, a grantee of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, launched a comprehensive campaign to build support…