Govt plans to raise tax on tobacco products
Thursday, 24 December 2009
FE Report
Health and Family Welfare Minister Prof Dr AFM Ruhal Haque Tuesday said the government is planning to increase tax on tobacco products, especially on 'bidi', so that supply and consumption of these harmful stuffs can be reduced significantly.
"It is also important to reduce demand of tobacco through education," he said adding that the government will increase taxes for better impact.
He also said it is essential to have an effective tobacco-control programme in the country to prevent premature deaths and disabilities, as every year 57,000 people die in Bangladesh due to smoking.
Education can be the best option to make smokers aware of its bad impact on health, as the rate of smokers is higher among the uneducated people, he added.
"Tobacco is more prevalent in rural areas (45.1 per cent) than in urban areas, as people in villages are mostly uneducated. We want to make tobacco products costly to make them unaffordable," the Health Minister said.
He was speaking as the chief guest of the launching ceremony of 'Global Adult Tobacco Survey: Bangladesh Report 2009' at a city hotel.
According to the report, at present overall tobacco use in Bangladesh (smoking and smokeless) among all adults is 43.3 per cent that is 41.3 million. A total of 23 per cent of adult men and women, under the age of 15 or above, smoke tobacco in the country. The survey estimated that the number of current adult tobacco smokers is 21.9 million, while half of the smokers use locally made 'bidi'.
The report also revealed that 27.2 per cent Bangladeshi (25.9 million) use smokeless tobacco products. Besides that, total 45 per cent Bangladeshis among all adults are exposed to second-hand smoking in public places. Among them, male (69.4 per cent) are more exposed than females (20.8 per cent).
Adviser to the Prime Minister Prof Dr Syed Modasser Ali, Director-General of Health Services Prof Shah Monir Hossain, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Education Razia Begum, Director-General of BTV Kazi Abu Zafar Siddiqui, WHO representative to Bangladesh Dr Duangvadee Sungkobol, and associate director of the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Dr Samira Asma joined the function, chaired by Health Secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Prof Dr AFM Ruhal Haque Tuesday said the government is planning to increase tax on tobacco products, especially on 'bidi', so that supply and consumption of these harmful stuffs can be reduced significantly.
"It is also important to reduce demand of tobacco through education," he said adding that the government will increase taxes for better impact.
He also said it is essential to have an effective tobacco-control programme in the country to prevent premature deaths and disabilities, as every year 57,000 people die in Bangladesh due to smoking.
Education can be the best option to make smokers aware of its bad impact on health, as the rate of smokers is higher among the uneducated people, he added.
"Tobacco is more prevalent in rural areas (45.1 per cent) than in urban areas, as people in villages are mostly uneducated. We want to make tobacco products costly to make them unaffordable," the Health Minister said.
He was speaking as the chief guest of the launching ceremony of 'Global Adult Tobacco Survey: Bangladesh Report 2009' at a city hotel.
According to the report, at present overall tobacco use in Bangladesh (smoking and smokeless) among all adults is 43.3 per cent that is 41.3 million. A total of 23 per cent of adult men and women, under the age of 15 or above, smoke tobacco in the country. The survey estimated that the number of current adult tobacco smokers is 21.9 million, while half of the smokers use locally made 'bidi'.
The report also revealed that 27.2 per cent Bangladeshi (25.9 million) use smokeless tobacco products. Besides that, total 45 per cent Bangladeshis among all adults are exposed to second-hand smoking in public places. Among them, male (69.4 per cent) are more exposed than females (20.8 per cent).
Adviser to the Prime Minister Prof Dr Syed Modasser Ali, Director-General of Health Services Prof Shah Monir Hossain, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Education Razia Begum, Director-General of BTV Kazi Abu Zafar Siddiqui, WHO representative to Bangladesh Dr Duangvadee Sungkobol, and associate director of the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Dr Samira Asma joined the function, chaired by Health Secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali.