The amount collected from charging a 1% health development surcharge on tobacco products remains unused because guidelines on how to use the funds have not yet been drawn up.
The surcharge was widely praised when it was announced, but it has not benefited anyone because there are no rules yet on how to spend it.
World Health Organisation studies have found that tobacco taxes are the most effective way to reduce tobacco use, especially among young people and poor people. A tax increase that increases tobacco prices by 10% decreases tobacco consumption by about 4% in high-income countries and by up to 8% in low- and middle-income countries.
The government estimated that it would raise Tk200 crore from the 1% surcharge, based on existing data on government revenue from the tobacco sector. But only Tk2 crore 17 lakh was deposited into the government exchequer under code 2212, the health development surcharge account.
The rest of the money has been deposited under other codes, somehow eluding the oversight of the authorities.
A committee under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been tasked with determining how the money should be spent.
A source in the Tobacco Control Cell said the committee had met thrice and more meetings were expected to take place soon.
“The guidelines will be framed soon. The collected surcharge amount will be spent on non-communicable disease, anti-tobacco campaign, strengthening the Tobacco Control Cell, research and to create alternative livelihoods for tobacco farmers,” he told the Dhaka Tribune, seeking anonymity.
The WHO has said that there are more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer.
In Bangladesh, 43% of adults use some form of tobacco. Smokeless tobacco is used by 28% of women and 26% of men, whereas 45% of men and 1.5% of women smoke cigarettes.
Some 57,000 people die every year from tobacco related diseases and 382,000 people were suffering from diseases and disabilities due to tobacco use.
Anti-tobacco alliance PROGGA has demanded that a National Tobacco Control Programme, under Tobacco Control Cell, be formed. They demand awareness programmes, research on tobacco consumption, mass campaigns and alternative livelihood programmes for tobacco cultivators to be implemented.
Almost half of all children here regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places.
Over 40% of children have at least one smoking parent. Tobacco users who die prematurely deprive their families of income, raise the cost of health care and hinder economic development.
Professor Dr Sohel Reza Choudhury, of the department of epidemiology and research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, said: “The surcharge amount should be invested in tobacco-related disease prevention and in programmes to assist people who want to quit smoking.”
