Togo: Tobacco smoking hurts the poor more than the rich (Study)
Wednesday, 20 April 2022 17:30 
(Togo First) - In Togo, around 10.6% of men, aged between 15 and 49, smoke, against about 0.9% of women in the same age range. The data, published in 2018 by the National Institute for Statistics, Economic and Demographic Studie (INSEED), was recently taken up in a study that the CADERDT conducted to assess the economic impacts of smoking on Togolese households. The results of this study were published on April 19, 2022.
“In addition to health consequences including cancers, airway obstruction, reduced lung function, heart disease, and stroke, tobacco consumption is not without consequences for household welfare,” the CADERDT notes.
Relative to finances, people spend on tobacco “at the expense of basic needs such as food, education, health, housing,” as smoking, due to its “addictive nature” tends to change the spending habits of smokers.
Rural and poor people are most affected
According to the study, tobacco use significantly affects poor and rural populations more than middle-income and richer populations.
Indeed, because of the low proportion of smokers, tobacco use has little economic impact on total household expenditures, and "tobacco expenditures only affect low-income, middle-income, and rural households," the report says.
"In low-income households, an increase in their tobacco expenditure of CFA1,000 causes a decrease in the share of housing, cooking energy, education, alcohol, entertainment, and gambling in their budget, with an amplitude ranging from 0.00002 for entertainment to 0.008 for housing; and an increase in the share of food in their budget, by 0.006,” according to the retrospective study, based on data from the latest Harmonized Survey on Living Conditions of Households (EHCVM 2018-2019).
Note that in Togo, the essential part of household resources is devoted to food; 50% of households spend at least 43.68% of their annual budget on food, which represents an amount of about 573,198 FCFA, according to available data. These expenses are followed by unspecified expenses (36.35%), and housing expenses (at least 4.99% of the median household's annual budget).
In this context, CADERDT recommends efforts to reduce the purchase and consumption of tobacco and its by-products in Togo, particularly targeting low and middle-income households in rural areas. It also suggests the implementation of a mixed system of taxation of tobacco and its by-products as well as bolstering efforts to tackle the illicit trade of tobacco products by better monitoring their mandatory secure marking.
Ayi Renaud Dossavi
