Public Health on Top

Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers' Association (BCMA), the organization of cigarette companies of Bangladesh, is now on the move with an all-out mission to thwart the finalization of National Tobacco Control Policy 2019 (NTCP). Based on its hollow reasoning, the Association has recently sent a letter to the Finance Minister to discredit effective and proven tobacco control measures, urging those not to be included in the final policy. Copies of the letter were also sent to high-level govt. officials including Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department of Finance, Secretary, Health Services Department, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Senior Secretary, Internal Resources Division and Chairman, National Board of Revenues.

The presence of five high-level govt. officials in British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB)'s Board of Directors has provided the company with bountiful opportunity to infiltrate the policymaking process and interfere in tobacco control strategies. As a result of the anti-tobacco activists’ long-term demand, the draft NTCP calls for gradual withdrawal of govt. investment (currently 10 percent) in BATB. However, BCMA emphasized on retaining the govt. shares on tobacco companies, claiming that it is important for revenue earning and minimizing public health risk. BCMA’s letter also presented electronic cigarettes, vaping, heated (IQOS) tobacco products as ‘safe alternatives’ to traditional cigarettes and advised against banning these products. The widespread prevalence of emerging tobacco products has already taken a deadly turn in Europe and the U.S. Thailand, Singapore and some 30 countries have already banned e-cigarettes and vaping products. Bangladesh is yet to experience such widespread use of these items but need to take action before the use goes out-of-control. BCMA, in its letter, mentioned Bangladesh as one of the countries with high tobacco taxes. The reality is quite the contrary as the price of cigarettes in Bangladesh is one of the cheapest in the world. 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. In the letter, BCMA could not but mention its favorite fear-mongering story that if, by sheer chance, the authority manages to increase the tobacco taxes substantially, it would result in widespread tax evasion and huge influx of illicit cigarettes, eventually causing the govt. a massive revenue loss. The fact, as always, contradicts with BCMA’s claim. 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. BCMA also claimed that the plain packaging strategy of tobacco control is ineffective in curbing the use of tobacco products. But in reality, till today, more than 16 countries in the world, including Australia, Canada, Belgium, Hungary, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore, have introduced plain packaging in their tobacco control mechanism after realizing its impact. Neighboring countries such as Sri Lanka and Nepal are also working to introduce plain packaging in those countries. Currently, GHW messages cover the lower 50 percent of all tobacco packs in Bangladesh whereas it is 90 percent in Nepal, 85 percent in India and Thailand, and 80 percent in Sri Lanka. BCMA also stood against the proposed policy of banning foreign direct investment in the tobacco industry claiming that such investment creates employment opportunities which is undoubtedly ridiculous. The truth is that Bangladesh, a country where 49 percent of its population is youth, appears as a tantalizing market for expanding tobacco business. The country is currently going through ‘Demographic Dividend’ stage as the working-age population is larger than its dependent population. However, the high prevalence of tobacco use can lead this generation to premature death and loss of productivity and vitality.

Tobacco claims more than 126,000 lives each year in Bangladesh and incurs a financial loss of more than Taka 30,560 cr. due to the illness and deaths it causes. Realizing the extent of loss caused by tobacco use, the Hon. 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 (MoHFW) started formulating National Tobacco Control Policy to reach the goal. Our demand here is that the govt. must not get confused or intimidated in order to free itself from the interferences of tobacco companies and pave the way to a tobacco-free Bangladesh.