Anti-tobacco campaigners fear obstruction by tobacco manufacturers

Anti-tobacco campaigners fear that tobacco manufacturing companies may create obstacle to finalising the National Tobacco Control Policy (NTCP).

“Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers Association (BCMA) has already started a strong lobbying campaign in the Ministry of Finance to hinder the finalisation process of NTCP. On September 15, it has sent a letter to the finance minister, with copies sent to finance secretary, health services secretary and chairman of National Revenue Board to this end,” said a statement of Progga, an anti-tobacco campaigning organisation, on Wednesday.

“In the letter, BCMA presented a series of unsubstantiated and fictitious explanations and ‘reasoning’ against the proven and highly effective tobacco control measures that the draft NTCP contains, including the abolishment of government partnership in tobacco companies, the banning of foreign direct investment in tobacco sector, banning of emerging tobacco products, increasing the size of Graphic Health Warning (GHW) on tobacco packaging, the introduction of plain packaging, increasing tobacco taxes and prices as well as introducing specific excise taxes,” it added.
Progga said the tobacco companies earlier launched a concerted media campaign to disrupt the inter-ministerial meeting on the NTCP.

It said the price of cigarettes in Bangladesh is one of the cheapest in the world as average price of cheapest cigarettes is more than twice in India than it is in Bangladesh.

According to a 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) study, with the exception of Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia, Bangladesh has the cheapest cigarette prices in the South and South-East Asian region. As a result, it is evident that there is no alternative to increasing this ‘cheapest’ price by introducing specific taxes on tobacco products, the statement added.

It said, “The report ‘A Global review of Country Experiences’, published in February 2019 by the World Bank, has found out that the increase in tobacco taxes has barely any relation with illicit trade of cigarettes and the percentage of illicit trade of tobacco in Bangladesh stands at merely 1.8 percent, the lowest in 27 countries.”

Progga said plain packaging, tobacco companies cannot attach any promotional messages in the packets of tobacco products. It also boosts the effectiveness of GHW on tobacco packs. Currently, GHW messages covers the lower 50 percent of all tobacco packs in Bangladesh whereas it is 90 percent in Nepal, 85 percent in India and Thailand, 80 percent in Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh is a country where 49 percent of its population is youth, appears as a tantalising market for expanding tobacco business, the statement added.
Progga said due to innovative marketing and attractive designing of electronic cigarettes, vaping, heated tobacco products as ‘safe alternatives’ to traditional cigarettes, it has already gained much popularity among school-going children and adolescents.

The statement said it should be mentioned that tobacco claims more than 126,000 lives each year in Bangladesh and incurs a financial loss of more than Tk 30,560 crore due to the illness and deaths it causes.

“Realising the extent of loss caused by tobacco use, the prime minister declared her vision of transforming Bangladesh into a tobacco-free country by 2040 and in 2016, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare started formulating National Tobacco Control Policy to reach the goal,” it added.

It further said as a party to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of WHO, Bangladesh is officially committed to safeguard its tobacco control policies and measures from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. “So the government must stay clear of the influence and interference of tobacco companies and finalise and implement the National Tobacco Control Policy as soon as possible,” it added.

Source: Daily sun, 19 September, 2019