'Massive drive needs to reduce tobacco consumption'

With an alarming rise of tobacco consumption in the country, anti-tobacco campaigners called for launching massive drives to reduce tobacco consumption to avert both economic, health and environmental burdens.

Nearly 43.3 percent adult people consume different sorts of tobacco and the rate has made Bangladesh one of top tobacco consuming countries issuing a wake-up call for all levels of people particularly, policy makers, they told BSS today.

The anti-tobacco activists said in Bangladesh, at least 57 thousand people die each year from eight tobacco related diseases. Between 1997 and 2010, cigarette consumption rose by 40 percent and bidi consumption rose by 80 percent, they added.

While addressing at the press conference yesterday (Thursday), eminent economist Prof Dr Abul Barakat said eliminating the use of price slabs as the basis for different taxation and adopting a uniform specific cigarette excise tax will significantly rise cigarette prices and reduce tobacco use.

He said it is evident in different researches that high prices of tobacco products through imposing taxes in a higher rate contribute significantly to reducing overall tobacco consumption.

With a strong influence of tobacco companies on tax fixation and collection process, Bangladesh is being deprived of huge revenue collection from tobacco industry every year creating multi-dimension negative impacts on economy and health sector, he added.

Referring to various aspects of tobacco taxation systems, Prof Barakat placed a set of recommendations, including imposing punitive export duty on tobacco leaf and tobacco products, ensuring institutional participation of tobacco control group in the taxation and related budget process, strengthening of tobacco tax administration by using modern technology and providing necessary powers to the authorities.

At least 5 percent more corporate tax should be imposed on tobacco producing companies as compared to other corporate sectors, he said, adding transparency among the tax collection authority, the tobacco industry and other related groups has to be ensured to cut tobacco consumption.

Executive Director of PROGGA, a non-government organization, ABM Zubayer said widespread cultivation of tobacco and rampant promotional campaign are largely responsible for increasing tobacco consumption.

The government should formulate a tobacco cultivation control policy to decrease its production, which will keep an impact on tobacco consumption, he said, adding imposing of high taxation also will contribute to reducing tobacco consumption.

The anti-tobacco activists said tobacco consumption causes premature death of nearly one lakh people every year while Bangladesh counts annual social and economic loss worth about Taka 16,632 crore due to tobacco consumption.

Source:BSS, May 22, 2015