Need for discouraging tobacco production

The tobacco industry in Bangladesh contend that they pay a good amount of revenues to the government, indicating thus how smoking is related to a business from the growers' to producers' level and how the curbing of the same would reduce the level of economic activities. But anti-tobacco campaigners maintain that economic activities that lead to much greater social or economic costs than the benefits they generate, are undesirable. Multinational tobacco companies, as the media reports note, have been turning their attention more to poor and developing countries to expand their business because tobacco consumption has been falling in the developed countries due to greater understanding of the health risks. Objectively speaking, it is difficult to ascertain as to what extent such claims do hold ground. Yet then, there is hardly any disagreement that rates of taxation are now higher than before, on tobacco-related products. In many other low income countries, such production is still a very profitable business. In countries like Bangladesh, the tobacco industry, with smart indirect publicities and other enticing activities, have also been trying to attract particularly the younger generation to become smokers. This, as the anti-tobacco campaigners say, has the most undesirable impact on national health and productivity. The youth of a country are its potential workforce. For them to lose their vitality and health from a negative habit can be most unfortunate. This is the rationale on which the anti-tobacco campaigners are trying to garner support for their demand for putting an effective ban on production of tobacco. There is some substance in the claim of the campaigners against tobacco, who also receive funding and other supports from the related international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are active in the field to carry out their mission wholeheartedly across the globe. The government should not, however, ignore the points that are being raised by the anti-tobacco campaigners. Rather, it needs to be pro-active for discouraging tobacco consumption through greater anti-tobacco publicity and a host of other innovative measures, besides those of high rates of taxes. It introduced some years ago a law in Bangladesh, providing for payment of penalties for smoking in public places. But the law exists in paper only. Its enforcement is not seen. In this connection, it is to be noted that the view of the anti-tobacco campaigners is that heavy taxes on tobacco producers or cigarette makers can be more effective to regulate smoking. For all practical purposes, the government has to make the prevailing law related to tobacco consumption stiffer, through amendments, as and where necessary. It must also be serious about implementing such measures. Higher fines for smoking in public places and for the producers not displaying on cigarette packets clearer warning about the risks of smoking, will be welcomed by all concerned. But mere making the law tougher in its provisions is unlikely to increase its effectiveness. The real challenge here remains: stricter enforcement of the anti-tobacco law for it to bring about any significant desired results.