The World Health Organisation issued a call for higher taxes on tobacco products, saying a 50 per cent global increase could prompt nearly 50 million smokers to quit and ultimately save 11 million lives.

“Raising taxes on tobacco is the most effective way to reduce use and save lives,” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in a statement issued in advance of World No Tobacco Day on 31 May. Higher prices are particularly effective in discouraging youth and poor people from taking up smoking, WHO said.