Death and tobacco taxes by Prabhat Jha

This article was published in 2007.

"Tobacco taxes are probably the single most cost-effective intervention for adult health in the world. A tripling of the excise tax would roughly double the price of cigarettes (as has happened in New York City), preventing about three million deaths per year by 2030.
Most OECD countries began to take tobacco control seriously in the last two decades, and have decreased male tobacco deaths since. But effective tobacco control measures are not underway in developing countries.
Taxes are about 80% of the street price of cigarettes in Toronto, but less than 30% in Beijing or Delhi. In many countries, tobacco taxes have fallen in real terms."