More than 43 million Filipinos wouldn’t have health insurance
Since 2008, the Gates Foundation has committed more than $225 million to partners who are working to address the tobacco epidemic in more than 30 countries in Africa and Asia.
Part of that has gone to the Philippines, where, in 2013, the government implemented the Sin Tax Law, which increased taxes on tobacco by up to 820 percent. As a result, these taxes have financed the enrollment of more than 43 million Filipinos in the country’s health insurance program, according to the Gates Foundation.