Public Health on Top

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has become very aggressive in expanding its death trade. The company has started a widespread media campaign promoting its business the scale of which is unprecedented. JTI is using Rabindranath Tagore and his works in its new promotional campaign where it is also explicitly using its slogan and distinctive brand color. Anti-Tobacco organizations of the country have already voiced their protest against JTI’s aggressive campaign and anti- public health investment. However, nothing seems to be able to draw the authority’s attention to the gravity of this matter. The neighboring country India has already banned foreign direct investment (FDI) in tobacco industry to safeguard its public health. If Bangladesh amends its FDI policy and chooses to walk along the same way, it may obstruct the entrance of new death traders i.e. China Tobacco into the domestic market in the future.
To make matter much worse, the lobbyists of the bidi industry have become very active to lower the price and tax on bidis. At least 21 Members of the Parliament (MPs) have already issued DO letters addressing the Finance Minister requesting him not to increase tax on bidi to protect the industry and the jobs it creates. This is nothing new because every year a number of our MPs become quite the well-wisher of bidi industry workers during the budget season. However, once the budget is passed, they rarely seem to care to humanize the bidi industry, never takes any step to end child labor and other blatant violation of workers’ right in the bidi industry or to create alternative job opportunity for these workers.
JTI’s flagrant violation of our tobacco control law and our MPs excessive seasonal ‘love’ for the bidi industry– none if these are in line with our goals to achieve SDGs within 2030 and tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040. We should keep in mind that we are dealing with tobacco that claims more than 126,000 each year in Bangladesh and incurs a financial loss of more than Taka 30,560 cr. due to the illness and deaths it causes. To build a tobacco-free nation, we need to stop such masked infiltration of tobacco industry and its lobbyists into our state system. Adopting policy in line with FCTC Article 5.3 is the way to go in this regard.