Progress towards a health surcharge in Bangladesh
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Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust, Health Rights and Tobacco Control, Bangladesh
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Bangladesh Anti Tobacco Alliance (BATA), Communication and Advocacy - Tobacco Control, Bangladesh
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Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust, Administration and Management, Bangladesh
Publication date: 2018-03-01
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2018;16(Suppl 1):A103
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ABSTRACT
Background and challenges to implementation:
While Bangladesh has made significant strides on
tobacco control, we have been weak on pricing. Tobacco control advocates were
less competent in this area than in policy areas such as smokefree places,
TAPS, and packet warnings. Intensive industry lobbying contributed to blocking significant
progress on taxation. As a result, the other policy areas have not had the
anticipated success.
Intervention or response:
Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust has been
advocating for higher tobacco taxes virtually since its inception and for a
dedicated surcharge since 2005. We did international research on health
promotion foundations. We wrote a short book on the issue, including specific
suggestions on its use. We carried out a signature campaign. We met with
policymakers to discuss the issue. We organized seminars and participated in
international discussions on the issue. We found several high-level advocates
to push for the issue. We also engaged our extensive network in promoting the
surcharge idea.
Results and lessons learnt:
In 2014-15, the Government of Bangladesh
introduced a health surcharge on tobacco products of 1% of price. The
government did not, however, make a decision at the time as to the use of the
collected surcharge. As a result, it went into general revenue. More recently,
the government has decided to allocate the surcharge to tobacco control in the
following areas: prevention of non-communicable disease, policy implementation,
function of the National Tobacco Control Cell, cessation, and treatment of
tobacco-related disease. It is hoped that the allocation will begin within the
next year.
Conclusions and key recommendations:
Sustainable funding for tobacco control is
necessary in order to maintain an effective response to the epidemic. A
dedicated surcharge is the best source of sustainable funding. Advocates should
not be disappointed if the process requires many years, as the benefits will
continue for decades to come.