Prices of cigarettes and other tobacco product should be increased in such a way that it goes beyond the purchasing power of the masses.
Experts expressed such views during a virtual roundtable, jointly organised by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance, titled 'Tobacco Tax and Price Measures for a Tobacco-Free Bangladesh: Reality and the Way Forward', said a press release on Monday.
PROGGA said that implementation of such a proposal would encourage 1.1 million adult smokers to quit, prevent premature death of 390,000 existing smokers and 400,000 youths. It would also earn the government an additional Tk 3400 crore in revenues.
Introduction of 65 per cent uniform supplementary duty on all cigarette retailing, raise of tobacco taxes and prices etc hold the key to contain the number of smokers, the speakers told the roundtable.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, eminent economist and the convener of the National Anti-Tobacco Platform, AAMS Arefin Siddique, chairman of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha and former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general of Directorate General of Health Services, Nasir Uddin Ahmed, former chairman of National Board of Revenue, Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, prominent journalist and editor-in-chief of TV Today, Abdul Quayum, associate editor of the Daily Prothom Alo, Syed Mahfuzul Haque, World Health Organization official, Mahfuz Kabir, the Research Director of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Md Mostafizur Rahman, lead policy advisor for Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Bangladesh attended the roundtable.
The event was hosted by Nadira Kiron, co-convener, ATMA. The budget proposals were presented by Md. Hasan Shahriar, project head, Tobacco Control, PROGGA.
