Tax increase should lead to price increase of tobacco products for reduction of consumption, expert opined
Tobacco is the only legally available consumer product which kills people when it is used entirely as intended. The government of Bangladesh has undertaken several initiatives to reduce tobacco use among all sections of population. It has passed a comprehensive tobacco control law. Yet there are several loop holes according to the experts working to reduce the use of tobacco. Dr Khalil Rahman, Regional Coordinator for Tobacco Control for South-East Asia region of World Health Organisation (WHO) recently shared his views with Star Health about contemporary situation of tobacco in the region. Dr Khalil informed that Bangladesh is facing double burden of tobacco. That is high consumption of tobacco products with large production. To combat the situation, the government of Bangladesh is highly committed. Bangladesh is the first signatory of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and 20th ratifier in the world. Following this the government of Bangladesh enacted the Bangladesh Tobacco Control Act 2005 and rules in 2006. The law provides for bans on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, smoking in public places and public transports and requirements for warning on cigarette packets. However, direct tobacco advertising has been banned only for smoking products. Advertisements through points of sale, internet, international TV and radio have not been fully covered. Indigenous tobacco products such as biri (made of raw tobacco), jorda (tobacco leaf), gul (grains of tobacco) are not included in the existing tobacco control law. Since the cost of these products are very low, they are easily available to the large number of poor population of Bangladesh including young and female users. Now the issue has been attended by the government that was reflected in the recent budget-speech of the honorable Finance Advisor. In reference to the Global Tobacco Epidemic Report 2008, Dr Rahman depicted that in comparison to other South-East Asian countries, Bangladesh is doing well in tobacco control activities. A national Strategic Plan of Action for Tobacco Control is in place. There is a strong NGO network in the country in support of tobacco control. Bangladesh is the first country in the region that established a National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) under the Bloomberg Initiative with technical support from WHO. This year, NTCC has been awarded the World No Tobacco Day Award by WHO Headquarters for working as the national hub for tobacco control. Bangladesh is one of the countries in the developing world that conducts mobile courts across the country to enforce tobacco control law. Recently the government has taken initiatives to include chapters on harmful effects of tobacco in school curriculum. WHO-SEARO has been supporting member countries by providing guidelines and other technical support in the area of tobacco control among youth. As this year's World No Tobacco Day theme is Tobacco Free Youth, WHO emphasises on awareness building among the youth as well as in general population. Dr Rahman stressed that article 13 of WHO-FCTC provides provision for a comprehensive ban on advertisement, promotion and sponsorship. So 100 percent smoke-free public place and public transport, as per Bangladesh Tobacco Control Law has to be enforced. Counter marketing activities should be further strengthen to combat the indirect promotional activities of the industry. Dr Rahman underscored that the recent increase in tax has to be monitored closely so that the impact reflects in the retail market to reduce effectively the consumption of all sorts of tobacco products. Because global data shows that if real retail price is increased, then the total tobacco consumption decreases substantially. But the industry is clever enough to manipulate the retail market so that the real price does not bother the end users. This is the hot spot to pay attention from all levels including the government, civil societies, NGOs, consumers association, role models and mass population.
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