Controlling tobacco production to reduce consumption

Shahana Bilkis A mobile court in Dhaka fined recently superstores Swapna and Big-Bazar for advertisement of cigarettes at the point of sale violating the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Bill (Amendment) 2013. Dhaka Ahsania Mission provided technical support to the Dhaka district administration for conducting the mobile courts. Some of the super shops removed their advertisements displaying cigarette packets sensing the mobile court drive. It is worth noticing that one drive has made the businessmen aware of the existence of law. Anti-tobacco activists hailed the drive saying it would send the message across the country that a stringent tobacco control law was in place. The main attraction of the landmark law is that it bans all sorts of tobacco advertisements at the point of sale and sponsorships of the industries. One of the biggest weaknesses of the earlier law was that it didn't include smokeless tobacco products. So, it was difficult to apply legal provisions to the products consumed by a majority of Bangladeshis, including powdered tobacco (gul) and chewing tobacco (jorda and khoinee). The amendment has brought these smokeless tobacco products under the purview of the law so that all regulations will equally be applied to smokeless tobacco products. The law also requires that no smoking scenes can be displayed in the entertainment media, i.e. TV and cinema, with the exception of scenes that are integral to the story. In the latter case, appropriate health warnings must be displayed. Penalties have been increased for individual violation of smoking at defined public places to Tk 300 from Tk 50 with a provision of doubling the fine for repeating the offence. The amended law bans sale of tobacco products to minors (aged below 18); they will not also be allowed to sell such products. However, there is a major weakness concerning tobacco cultivation. The previous law offered the possibility of loans on easy terms for tobacco farmers willing to switch to alternative crops. But the government didn't implement this section within the time period mentioned. The new tobacco control law is even weaker in this respect; it doesn't give any constructive direction about regulating tobacco cultivation. The government has amended the law to curb the growing use of tobacco in Bangladesh. Study showed that more than 43 per cent adults either smoke or chew tobacco. Tobacco is also linked to about 57,000 deaths in Bangladesh with additional over 350,000 people suffering from various ailments, according to WHO (World Health Organisation). And the costs of treatment of tobacco-related illness are double than the revenue government earns from the tobacco industry. We need to remember that tobacco cultivation is harmful for public health (farmers), the economy and the environment. It is also a threat to food security and child education. We hope that the government will enact regulations for reducing tobacco cultivation and at the same time increase the tax on all tobacco products. Nayakrishi Andolon, an initiative of UBINIG, is working with alternative livelihoods in tobacco producing areas like Bandarban and Kushtia. But unless a policy for the control of cultivation is established, we can't control the aggression of the tobacco companies. Controlling tobacco cultivation, mainly on fertile land where we can cultivate food, and close to river and water bodies is much needed for reducing tobacco consumption. Child labour in tobacco cultivation has to be prohibited. Tobacco curing with wood and trees should be stopped, especially in residential areas, because people suffer from respiratorial and skin diseases. If any land is used for tobacco cultivation, there should be a special tax on it. The government should stop any kind of promotion for tobacco cultivation. It is more important to have policies or laws to reduce tobacco cultivation. At the same time, the government should undertake projects to develop alternative livelihoods for the tobacco farmers. [email protected]