Tobacco cultivation and sales are not decreasing at all

The rate at which cigarettes are taxed does not plan to discourage them.

The tax on cigarettes is increasing every year in the budget. However, smoking is not reducing as expected. Cigarette sales are also increasing. Tobacco cultivation is also increasing.

Representatives of anti-tobacco organizations say that the rate at which cigarettes are taxed does not plan to discourage them. A planned tax increase with public health in mind will reduce tobacco use and increase revenue.

Anti-smoking people say the kind of strictness that should be imposed is not being done in practice. Therefore, smoking is increasing day by day, along with it, diseases related to tobacco use are also increasing. World No Tobacco Day is being celebrated on Wednesday. This year the theme of the day is 'Grow food, not tobacco'.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2022 'Tobacco: Threat to Our Environment' report, one and a half million adults in Bangladesh smoke cigarettes. 5.3 million people eat bidi. And 2.2 million people consume smokeless tobacco.

In the outgoing fiscal year (2022–23), an additional tax was imposed on tobacco to discourage its use. Every year the budget talks about reducing tobacco use. And for this the taxation also increases than the previous year. Along with that, the government's revenue from tobacco increases. In the fiscal year 2010-11, the government's revenue from tobacco and tobacco products was over Tk 7,691 crore. And in the fiscal year 2020-21, this income increased to more than 29 thousand 939 crore rupees. In the fiscal year 2021-22, this income is 30 thousand 346 crores.

Hamidul Islam, a representative of research organization Bangladesh Network for Tobacco Tax Policy, told Prothom Alo that although taxes are imposed in the budget to reduce tobacco use, in reality the main goal is to raise revenue. Public health is not at issue here.

According to the National Board of Revenue, more than 7,159 crores of premium, high, medium and low grade cigarettes were sold in the country in the fiscal year 2020-21. The next year it increased to more than 7 thousand 564 crores. 5 thousand 195 crore cigarettes have been sold till February of 2022-23 financial year. If month-wise calculations are taken into consideration, it can be seen that the sale of cigarettes will exceed the previous year this year as well.

ABM Zubair, executive director of Pragya, an anti-tobacco organization, believes that the rate at which the tax is increased is not enough. According to him, tobacco products are actually becoming cheaper compared to the prices of daily commodities.

The prices of low-end cigarettes, which occupy 75 per cent of the cigarette market, have been increased by only 2.56 per cent in the current budget (2022–23). The prices of widely used jorda, gul and bidi have been kept unchanged. As the real price of tobacco products decreases, young and low-income people will be encouraged to use these products, which poses a threat to public health.

Bangladesh is the ninth largest tobacco consuming country in the world. 35.3 percent of the country's adult population uses tobacco. 1 lakh 61 thousand people die every year due to diseases related to tobacco use. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019, tobacco is one of the four leading causes of death and disability in Bangladesh. The economic loss of tobacco use is 30 thousand 560 crores annually.

Despite these losses for tobacco, the country's tobacco cultivation area and its production are increasing. According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data, in 2020-21, more than 99,600 acres of land are under tobacco cultivation. At this time, 89 thousand 2 metric tons of tobacco were produced. In the next financial year, the area under tobacco cultivation increased to more than 1 lakh 384 acres. And tobacco is produced 92 thousand 326 metric tons.

Syed Mahbubul Alam, Technical Adviser of The Union, an international anti-tobacco organization, told Prothom Alo that specific taxes should be levied in line with inflation to protect public health. Formulation of a national tobacco control policy is essential.