2024-06-11 05:20:43
So as to shield the subsequent technology from consuming tobacco and to cut back the creation of recent tobacco customers, the Dhaka Ahsaniya Mission Well being Sector has demanded that the worth of tobacco merchandise needs to be elevated in keeping with inflation.
The demand was made at a perform titled ‘Afternoon Response: Context Tobacco Costs and Taxes’ on the Orchid Assembly Room of the Dhaka Ahsania Mission Well being Sector in Shyamlis of the capital on Monday (June 10).
Iqbal Masud, director of Dhaka Ahsania Mission Well being and Wash Sector, introduced the keynote speech on the occasion. He stated that in the previous few years, the worth of day by day requirements has not elevated in proportion to the worth of tobacco merchandise. Even in Bangladesh, the tax enhance charge of tobacco merchandise is way decrease than the neighboring international locations.
Within the proposed price range for the monetary yr 2024-25, the retail worth of 10 cigarettes on the decrease degree has been elevated from Tk 45 to Tk 50. That’s, the worth of every shalaka has been elevated by solely 50 paisa.
In the meantime, the price range has elevated the costs of cigarettes, jorda, gul, however the worth of beedi has been stored unchanged. The place the speed of beedi consumption is excessive among the many decrease class of the nation. Consequently, within the proposed price range, the well being checkup of the decrease class folks has been uncared for.
In the previous few years, the worth of important commodities within the price range has elevated from 40 p.c to nearly 90 p.c. However within the proposed price range, the worth of tobacco merchandise has been elevated from 4.48 p.c to 11.11 p.c.
In comparison with 2023-24, the per capita revenue of the folks in 2024-25 has elevated by about 12 p.c. Regardless of the rise in costs of day by day requirements, tobacco merchandise stay throughout the attain of the younger and poor.
This nominal enhance within the worth of tobacco merchandise will by no means discourage the poor and younger inhabitants from taking over cigarettes. As a result of per capita revenue progress and inflation are taken under consideration, cigarette costs in actual phrases have fallen in comparison with earlier years. This may enhance the consumption of low cost cigarettes at an alarming charge and their well being dangers will enhance manifold.
Greater than 35 p.c of adults in Bangladesh use tobacco and greater than 161,000 folks die yearly from tobacco-related illnesses. If the anti-tobacco proposals are carried out within the remaining price range, it is going to be attainable to stop the untimely demise of greater than 11 lakh folks, together with about 5 lakh kids.
Due to this fact, if all ranges of costs and taxes on tobacco merchandise aren’t elevated on the charges recommended by anti-tobacco organizations, the federal government will lose an extra Tk 10,000 crore in income and the well being prices of tobacco use-related illnesses will enhance. Even the ‘out of pocket expenditure’ of most people will enhance.
At the moment, Deputy Director of Well being Sector Mokhlesur Rahman, Mission Coordinator of Tobacco Management Mission Shariful Islam and lots of others have been current at Dhaka Ahsania Mission.