United News of Bangladesh

Young doctors on Saturday demanded an effective increase in tobacco product prices in the upcoming FY2026–27 national budget to discourage tobacco use among young people and protect the country’s large youth population from the harmful effects of tobacco. The demand was raised during a human chain titled “Effective Tobacco Price Increase in the FY2026–27 Budget to Discourage Youth Tobacco Use,” organized by National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Saturday (May 9). According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), around 25–28 percent of the country’s population belongs to the youth demographic. Speakers at the program said protecting this large segment of the population from tobacco addiction is essential for safeguarding the country’s future. The speakers noted that Bangladesh has the highest tobacco use rate among South Asian countries, with 35.3 percent of adults using tobacco products, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2017. They said tobacco-related diseases cause nearly 200,000 premature deaths in the country every year. They also mentioned that the economic loss from tobacco-related health and environmental damages in 2024 reached nearly BDT 87,000 crore — more than double the revenue earned from the tobacco sector. The young doctors warned that the easy availability of cheap cigarettes is contributing to rising tobacco use among youths, creating a major public health threat for future generations.  They emphasized that increasing tobacco prices through effective taxation is one of the most effective measures to reduce tobacco use. According to their estimates, effective tax and price measures could encourage nearly 500,000 adults to quit smoking and prevent more than 372,000 youths from initiating smoking. During the program, participants placed several recommendations for tobacco tax reforms in the FY2026–27 budget. They proposed merging the low- and medium-tier cigarette categories and setting the minimum retail price at TK100 per 10-stick pack. They also recommended fixing the retail price at TK 150 for high-tier cigarettes and TK 200 for premium-tier cigarettes. In addition, they demanded the imposition of a specific supplementary duty of BDT 4 per pack across all cigarette tiers. Speaking at the event, Dr. Ramisa Fariha, Vice President of Doctors Foundation, said a large portion of Bangladesh’s population consists of young people, and protecting them from the harmful effects of tobacco requires substantial price increases on tobacco products. She added that higher tobacco prices would discourage young people from starting tobacco use. Dr. Mukarrabin Haque Nibir, Adviser to the Central Committee of Sandhani, said tobacco use among children and adolescents in Bangladesh remains alarming. Referring to the 2023 Tobacco Atlas, he said the smoking prevalence among children aged 10 to 14 stands at 2.48 percent. He stressed that increasing tobacco prices is necessary to protect children and adolescents from tobacco addiction. Among others, intern doctor Dr. Towhidul Islam of Ibn Sina Medical College, Dr. Mehnaz Tamanna, Dr. Sharif, Dr. Shamim, Dr. Prabhat, Dr. Safin, Dr. Juha, Dr. Munna and Dr. Amrita also spoke at the program. Young doctors and medical students from different medical colleges across the country participated in the human chain. 

A human chain was formed on a virtual platform on Sunday, demanding that the government increase taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products to protect the young generation from harms. Participants from different parts of the country joined the event by uploading their pictures with festoons and placards on Facebook to press home the demand, using #RaiseTaxSaveLivesBD hashtags. Also read: Govt urged to reject offer for Covid-19 vaccine from any tobacco company The event was organised by an anti-tobacco advocacy organisation, PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), with support from Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids (CTFK), said a release. In the function, the enhancement of the prices of tobacco products was demanded through imposing specific supplementary duties in the upcoming FY 2022-23 National Budget. The anti-tobacco organisations demand that the retail price for the low-tier cigarettes should be set at BDT 50 for 10 sticks by imposing BDT 32.50 as specific supplementary duty (SD) in the next national budget. The retail price of the medium tier cigarettes should be set at BDT 75 for 10 sticks with BDT 48.75 supplementary duty and that of the high-tier cigarette at BDT 120 with BDT 78.00 SD and the premium tier at BDT 150 with BDT 97.50 SD. If the tobacco prices are raised at the suggested rates, it would encourage 1.3 million adults to refrain from smoking, to prevent the premature deaths of 4.45 lakh adults and 4.48 lakh youths in the long run, and help the government to earn additional revenue of BDT 9,200 crore. Besides, the anti-tobacco organisations demand the retail price of non-filtered bidis should be increased at BDT 25 for 25 sticks with BDT 11.25 as specific supplementary duty. Also read: Tobacco industry’s interference continues: Study In case of smokeless tobacco products, the retail prices for 10 grams of jarda should be raised to BDT 45 with BDT 27 as 60 percent supplementary duty. For 10 grams of gul, the retail price should be enhanced to BDT 25 with BDT 15 as specific supplementary duty. “Increasing tobacco products’ prices by imposing specific supplementary duties would raise government revenues and reduce tobacco-related deaths and losses,” said PROGGA Executive Director ABM Zubair.