Round Table on the Use of Tobacco Products and Smoking Control Policy Measures
On 25 November 2020, the Institute for Socio-Economic Analysis (ISEA) organized a Round Table on the topic "Research on the Use of Tobacco Products and Smoking Control Policy Measures in Montenegro", which was held online, due to the overall situation with the Covid-19 virus.
Since 2018, the NGO ISEA has been engaged in a regional project, which includes the countries of the Western Balkans, and whose research goal in the last 3 years has been to analyse the impact of increasing excise taxes on the price and demand for tobacco products. The project holder is the Institute of Economic Sciences from Belgrade, and the project is being carried out in cooperation with the University of Chicago and the Bloomberg Initiative To Reduce Tobacco.
During 2020, the research included the analysis of data from the survey on the use of tobacco products in Montenegro (the survey was conducted in the second half of 2019), and it covered a total of 1,000 adult respondents. The members of the ISEA team at the Round Table presented the main findings related to the use of tobacco products in Montenegro, under different socio-demographic groups (prevalence, initiation, smoking intensity). The economic aspects were specifically presented, which included the expenses of smokers on tobacco products. The subject of the analysis, which was also presented at the Round Table, were the effects of the application of measures to reduce and limit smoking on the use of tobacco products in Montenegro (prevention and smoking cessation, exposure to tobacco smoke and promotion of tobacco products).
"Both prevalence and intensity of smoking are high in Montenegro, with similar findings among men and women (40.2% and 40.7%, respectively). The average number of cigarettes smoked each day is 19.7. Exposure to second-hand smoking is high in Montenegro, both at home and in public spaces. There may be a lack of understanding about the dangers of SHS given that 4 out of 5 non-smoking adults allow smoking in their homes, but only 2 out of 5 believe that they are not exposed to this type of smoking. Tobacco control policies have a widespread support, with 50% of adults reporting that they believe all of the policy measures they were asked about will be useful. These are just key research results, and we invite all interested parties to download the entire research from our website and familiarize themselves with other data (iseamne.com) ", it was announced from ISEA.
The Round Table was attended by all important stakeholders whose activities are related to tobacco taxation policy and other measures concerning tobacco consumption in Montenegro (Ministry of Finance, Tobacco Agency, MONSTAT, civil sector), as well as the representatives of the Institute of Economic Sciences in Belgrade, who are the regional coordinators of the project. After the presented results, the participants in the discussion agreed that such research was very useful, because it provided a basis for action and adoption of policies and strategies based on facts. They also gave recommendations for further research, and agreed to work together on their implementation. They all agreed on the recommendations for further action. They refer to the need for a gradual increase in prices, through an appropriate excise policy. Systematic monitoring of adopted policies is also important, in order to make their implementation more effective. It is especially important to educate younger target groups about the harmfulness of smoking, but also to organize media campaigns to raise awareness.
Roundtable “The effectiveness of tax policy changes in Montenegro”
Institute for Socio-Economic Analysis held the second round table regarding the issue related to acceleration of tobacco taxation policy in Montenegro, on December 2nd.
The aim of the research in this year was to focus not only on the consumption sensitivity to cigarettes price changes, but as well to estimate the prevalence elasticity, according to the Household Budget Survey data. Moreover, the analysis was conducted by income groups, in order to asses smoking behavior of households by socioeconomic status.
The participants of the round table are representing the most important stakeholders in this area of research, based on their impact on policy decision-making: Ministry of Finance (Directorate for Tax and Custom System), Ministry of Health (Directorate for international cooperation and regulatory harmonization), Institute for Public Health (Center for Health promotion), as well as Statistical office – Monstat and NGO sector (Montenegrin Society for the Fight Against Cancer, Red Cross of Montenegro).
The 8th European Conference on Tobacco or Health
The 8th European Conference on Tobacco or Health
The 8th European Conference on Tobacco or Health was organized in Berlin, Germany, on February 19 – 22 , 2020. More than four hundred attendees took part in this event.
Participants were tobacco control experts, researchers and policymakers, mostly from the European region and beyond. The aim of this conference was the dissemination of high-quality research results and policy outputs about different tobacco control measuers and their implementation in the region.
Representatives from each project team participated in the Conference: University of Illinois at Chicago, Institute of Economic Sciences, Institute for Socio-Economic Analysis, Analytica, University of Banja Luka, Development Solution Associates, Democracy Plus. Each team presented their main findings about tobacco price and income elasticities as well as current tobacco control policies.
The Second Regional Conference on Tobacco Economics in Southeastern Europe
The workshop about tobacco economics in Southeastern Europe was held in Skopje, North Macedonia on December 12-13th, 2019.
At the conference, the ISEA team presented the results of research on tax policy and use of tobacco products in Montenegro.
During this conference, team members discussed about main results of the research for 2019 and finalizing national policy briefs as well as regional report wich will be launched during the Policy Dialogue Event. Also, main key messages for policy makers and recommendations for improving tobacco taxation policy were topic of the discussion.
This event is part of the annual activities related to the project „Accelerating Progress on Effective Tobacco Tax Policies in Low and Middle-Income Countries“. Representatives of national project teams from all consortium countries, as well as representatives of the University of Illinois from Chicago and Institute of Economic Sciences, took part in the event.
