Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

The parliament now on summer vacation missed an easy opportunity to improve the nation’s health.

e nation’s health. Instead, lawmakers continue to act like lobbyists for the tobacco industry.

The nation’s health care woes, including poor training and equipment, are known. So are the consequences of bad health: life expectancy is only 61 years for men and 73 years for women, according to the World Health Organization. Regular smokers die earlier, cutting as many as 10 years from their lives.

Ukraine can and should spend more money on treatment. But preventing health problems is always the cheapest and best solution. And that’s why, when parliament reconvenes in September, lawmakers should dramatically hike taxes on cigarettes. There is no better way to reduce smoking than by raising the price of tobacco. High-priced cigarettes discourage children starting to smoke and encourage adults to quit. And that’s precisely what the tobacco industry fears most, which is why its lobbyists blow smoke in the eyes of lawmakers with spurious claims, such as predicting a rise in smuggling from abroad if cigarette taxes are raised and other nonsense.

Ukraine’s cigarettes are among the cheapest in Europe – the cheapest for Marlboro, the most popular brand, which sell for roughly 57 euro cents a pack, even below the price in Moldova and Russia. Inexpensive cigarettes are a big reason why an alarming 40 percent of Ukrainian adults smoke, one of the world’s highest rates, and double the rate of many Western nations. There are other proven solutions, such as banning all indoor smoking and restricting availability to minors by forbidding tobacco sales from street kiosks.

These steps will improve the health of Ukraine and help millions to live longer.