Tax revenue lost due to illicit cigarettes in South Africa: 2002-2022.

Objective: To estimate lost excise and value-added tax (VAT) revenue as a result of illicit cigarette trade from 2002 to 2022.

Design: Using gap analysis, we estimated the number of illicit cigarettes by calculating the difference between the number of self-reported cigarettes (derived from nationally representative surveys) and the number of legal (tax-paid) cigarettes (derived from government sources) from 2002 to 2022. We then calculated the excise and VAT revenue that the government lost through illicit trade, taking into account that some people would have quit or reduced their consumption if cigarette prices had been higher (ie, tax paid).

A Media Analysis of the COVID-19 Tobacco Sales Ban in South Africa.

The South African government introduced a nationwide lockdown in March 2020 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Among other restrictions, the government banned the sale of tobacco products. The ban lasted for nearly five months.

The impact of cigarette prices on smoking onset and cessation: evidence from Vietnam.

Background: Vietnam is a country with very high smoking rates among men. According to a Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) conducted in 2015, the daily smoking prevalence among Vietnamese men was 39%.

Methods: We used data from the 2010 and 2015 Vietnamese GATSs and cigarette price data from General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

Estimating the changing disease burden attributable to smoking in South Africa for 2000, 2006 and 2012.

Background: Ongoing quantification of the disease burden attributable to smoking is important to monitor and strengthen tobacco control policies.

Objectives: To estimate the attributable burden due to smoking in South Africa for 2000, 2006 and 2012.

Methods: We estimated attributable burden due to smoking for selected causes of death in South African (SA) adults aged ≥35 years for 2000, 2006 and 2012.

Estimating the changing burden of disease attributable to alcohol use in South Africa for 2000, 2006 and 2012.

Background: Alcohol use was one of the leading contributors to South Africa (SA)'s disease burden in 2000, accounting for 7% of deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in the first South African Comparative Risk Assessment Study (SACRA1). Since then, patterns of alcohol use have changed, as has the epidemiological evidence pertaining to the role of alcohol as a risk factor for infectious diseases, most notably HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB).

Objectives: To estimate the burden of disease attributable to alcohol use by sex and age group in SA in 2000, 2006 and 2012.