Paulina Quintso – The Chief of the Department of Non-infectious Diseases, of the Ministry of Health, Dr Herculano Seixas do Santos has urged the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Environment (MCIA) to raise to $10 per packet of cigarettes.
Dr dos Santos added that discussions have been held with the Ministry of Commerce MCIA and with the Ministry of Finance but so far a decision has not been reached, even though legally it is allowed.
"We should do it to prevent smoking in particular among children," said Dr dos Santos at the Taibessi Youth Centre, Dili.
He added that raising the cost of buying cigarettes in Timor-Leste is an effective way to reduce the number of smokers because research shows that one of the factors contributing to the high number of smokers in Timor-Leste is because they are so cheap to buy.
According to research undertaken by the Ministry of Health in 2013, results show that 50 percent of 12-17 years olds smoke regularly and that 70 percent of males over 17 years old are habitual smokers making Timor-Leste the country in the Asian region with the highest number of smokers per capita.
Meanwhile the Director of youth organisation Youth Unity for Community Progress (UPJC) Euklidis Torrezao said he supports the idea of raising the price of cigarettes because this will protect the future generations from suffering from cigarette smoking diseases.
"We think that it is good to raise the price of a packet of cigarettes from $1 up to $20 because the cheaper they are the more people will smoke and it makes it even more difficult for people to stop," he added. He added that raising the price of cigarettes will mean that only those who can afford it will smoke.
Youth Ananias Sales also agrees with increasing cigarettes prices because it will reduce the incidence of chronic disease caused by smoking in Timor-Leste. "It is a good idea. We hope though there will be adequate control systems in place so that this can be implemented," he said also.