An alliance of groups aiming to combat non-communicable diseases in Myanmar is planning to lobby the government to further increase tobacco taxes in the country, according to an article in the Myanmar Times. The move is aimed at preventing and controlling the diseases caused by tobacco intake, the article said. Dr Thein Swe, vice president of the People’s Health Foundation, was quoted as saying in the article that the move was part of plans to “reduce the burden and impact of morbidity and mortality caused by tobacco use”. It has called on the government to increase the price of cigarettes by between 35 and 70 percent to try and decrease the number of smokers in the country. “There are many causes of cancer, but tobacco is the most common,” U Soe Aung of the Myanmar Oncology Society was quoted as saying.  The move is reportedly being pushed by the Myanmar non-communicable Disease Alliance, which was formed this year and is made up of 18 local and international NGOs and civil society groups.