The Center for Health Policies and Studies (PAS Center) believes that the Finance Ministry's initiative to raise excise duties on tobacco products by 2014, up to the level of prices in the countries of the region, can contribute to reduced tobacco use and, in the long term, to the improvement of public health, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a communique, the PAS Center says the rise in excise duties on tobacco products is recognized as one of the most efficient control measures, especially among persons on low incomes. A 10% increase in the excise duties on tobacco will lead to a 4%- 8% decrease in tobacco use. Half of the students aged between 13 and 15 in Moldova started to smoke until they turned 10. About 11.3% of the students are smokers. The smokers among men represent 46%, while among women – 13.5%. The economic damage resulting from premature deaths, hospitalization and ambulatory treatment of diseases caused by smoking is estimated at about 430 million lei. According to the World Health Organization, the epidemic of tobacco use is one of the greatest threats to global health today. Approximately 5 million people die yearly worldwide a result of their addiction to nicotine. If current patterns continue, tobacco use will kill more than 8 million people per year by 2030. Up to half of the world's more than 1 billion smokers will die prematurely of a tobacco-related disease.