Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Oct 18;11(1):21.
doi: 10.1186/1617-9625-11-21.

Sharp changes in tobacco products affordability and the dynamics of smoking prevalence in various social and income groups in Ukraine in 2008-2012

Konstantin Krasovsky  1
Affiliations

Sharp changes in tobacco products affordability and the dynamics of smoking prevalence in various social and income groups in Ukraine in 2008-2012

Konstantin Krasovsky. Tob Induc Dis. .

Abstract

Background: To curb the tobacco epidemic, successful implementation of tobacco control measures should take into account how specific demographic groups react to particular policies. In 2005-2010, Ukraine experienced a sharp decline in smoking prevalence. In 2008-2010, several excise tax hikes combined with the economic recession resulted in a sharp reduction of tobacco product affordability, but in 2011-2012 tax increases were rather moderate. The aim of the current research was to investigate how smoking prevalence in various gender, social and income groups in Ukraine changed in response to differing tobacco taxation policies in 2008-2012.

Methods: The State Statistics Service of Ukraine annual household surveys among the population aged 12 years and older, which include questions about smoking, were used. The aggregate data from the annual household surveys datasets of 2008-2012 were analyzed.

Results: The decline in general smoking prevalence was much steeper in 2008-2010 - 3.2 percentage points in two years, while in two subsequent years it constituted only 0.6 percentage points. Smoking prevalence declined in all age, social, and income groups in 2008-2010. However, in 2011-2012 smoking prevalence continued to decline mainly among young and poor people, while some older and more affluent smokers apparently relapsed to smoking.

Conclusions: Short-term and long-term price responsiveness of tobacco demand by socioeconomic status of population groups in low--and middle--income countries like Ukraine could be rather different for poor and more affluent people. Tobacco excise tax hikes have great potential in reducing smoking prevalence, especially in young and less affluent people, however they should also be supported by effective and available smoking cessation services.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Smoking prevalence trends in different social groups in Ukraine in 2008–2012.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Smoking prevalence trends in different income groups in Ukraine in 2008–2012.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention. Effectiveness of tax and price policies for tobacco control. Lyon, France: IARC Press; 2011. Tobacco Control, Vol. 14. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2009: implementing smoke-free environments. Geneva: WHO; 2009.
    1. World Health Organization. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2011: warning about the dangers of tobacco. Geneva: WHO; 2011.
    1. Andreeva T, Kharchenko N, Krasovsky K, Global adult tobacco survey (GATS), Ukraine 2010. Kiev: Ministry of Health; 2010.
    1. Ross H, Stoklosa M, Krasovsky K. Economic and public health impact of 2007–2010 tobacco tax increases in Ukraine. Tob Control. 2012;21(4):429–435. doi: 10.1136/tc.2010.040071. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources