MONASH College
Assessment Task 2b: Case Study Practice Task
Foundation Year MUF0061 Economics Unit 1 Introduction to Microeconomics
Practice Assessment Task 2b MUF0061 Economics Unit 1: Introduction to Microeconomics Study Area 2: Markets in Action Case Study and Report
The following case study was adapted from: Lai, L (2016, March 8) Next Stage in Battle to Stub Out Smoking, Straits Times. Retrieved from: htto://vvww.straitstim es.com/sinqapore/healthinext-staoe-in-battle-to-stub-out-smokinq
Next Stage in Battle to Stub out Smoking in Singapore
The Health Promotion Board in Singapore is looking at steps such as raising age limits and strict rules for cigarette packaging.
In Australia, cigarettes come in ugly brown packages. Their sides are plastered with pictures warning of the terrible consequences of smoking, and one can barely make out the brand.
And in Brazil, all flavoured tobacco - from cherry to chocolate and even the ubiquitous menthol - has been banned since 2012.
As Singapore thinks about ways to bring down smoking rates, it is looking at these countries that have gone ahead with efforts to stop people from lighting up. Singapore, like many countries, imposes high excise taxes on the sale of cigarettes. Two years ago, Singapore government agency the Health Promotion Board (HPB) announced that it was aiming to get smoking rates down to 12 per cent by 2020. But that is easier said than done. "We know that for the past six or seven years, the smoking rate has always been between 13 per cent and 14 per cent," said Ms Vasuki Utravathy, the deputy director of HPB's strategic planning and collaborations department. Last December, HPB suggested four tobacco control proposals for public discussion. Two are "hard" measures: raising the minimum legal age for smoking, and, like Brazil, banning additives in tobacco products. The two other proposals aim to reduce the appeal of cigarettes by selling them in generic packages and enlarging the graphic health warnings on their packaging. Last Friday, Senior Minister of State for Health Amy Khor held an online chat about the issue, during which some people suggested banning smoking for those born after a certain year.
Last Updated 20 January 2017
MUF0061 Practice Assessment Task 2b Page 1