Although the rate of tobacco users in Bangladesh has decreased in proportion to the population, the number of tobacco users has not decreased ultimately as the country’s population has increased.
Hossain Ali Khandaker, coordinator (additional secretary) at National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) of Health Ministry; said this while speaking as the chief guest at a workshop on Sunday (March 12).
“The number of tobacco users dropped by 8% in the last 18 years after the enactment of the tobacco control law. It is not enough as the number is still high. Crash programme should be taken. However, we are now emphasizing the issue of controlling tobacco consumption in policy. If the tobacco consumption can be controlled at a significant rate, it will be possible to stop its use,” he said.
Bureau of Economic Research (BER) of Dhaka University and Bangladesh Network for Tobacco Tax Policy (BNTTP) jointly arranged the workshop for journalists on tobacco tax policy at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the city.
Experts and researchers on tobacco control at the event said that although all other products in the country are sold at the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) rate mentioned in the packet, the tobacco companies don’t follow it in the case of cigarette and bidi. As a result, the smokers are paying high prices at retail level, while the government is losing about Tk 20 crore revenue daily.
They said that it is now important to ensure the sale of cigarettes at the tag prices as well as at the price of packets to protect public health and prevent tax evasion.
Sushanta Sinha, a researcher on tobacco control and special correspondent at Ekattor Television; presented the main keynote, while Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin, technical adviser at The Union; presented another keynote at the workshop. Hamidul Islam Hillol, project manager of BNTTP; moderated the event.
In his presentation, Sushanta Sinha said the tobacco companies provide misleading information that the revenue would decrease if the tobacco control law is amended. They carried out similar propaganda when the law was enacted in 2005 and updated in 2013. However, the revenue from the tobacco sector has increased three times in the last 10 years. Although the rate of tobacco users has decreased due to the enactment of the law, the revenue income has never decreased compared to the previous years. So, a tobacco tax policy must be formulated alongside the amendment to the law.
In his presentation, Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin said that the investigation of the Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) has shown that every day about Tk 20 crore is going out of the pockets of the consumers more than the price fixed by the government. If this tax evasion is stopped, it will be possible to treat heart disease free of cost for the people of the whole country with that money.