Andreas Gassen, head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), has called for a significant increase in tobacco and alcohol taxes. The goal is to prevent young people from starting to consume these substances by making them unaffordable.
The healthcare system can only repair the consequences of substance use, not prevent them, as long as the products remain affordable, Gassen said. “Doctors and the healthcare system can only act as a repair shop trying to deal with the consequences,” the KBV chief stated.
The federal government has already announced tax increases but falls short of Gassen’s demand. For tobacco tax, it aims for an average pack price of 11.40 euros by 2030. Lars Klingbeil (SPD) plans to raise the alcohol tax by 20 percent, which would increase the price of a 0.7-liter bottle of spirits by 87 cents.
Source: www.spiegel.de
