Health experts and medical professionals on Wednesday called for a more robust tobacco tax structure in the final 2026-27 national budget to protect the youth and generate an additional Tk44,000 crore in revenue.
Speaking at a seminar titled “Protecting Public Health from Harmful Effects of Tobacco: Obstacles and Actions,” they warned that the current budget proposal’s marginal price hike on low-tier cigarettes is insufficient to curb tobacco use and could result in nearly 400,000 premature deaths.
The event was jointly organised by the Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB) and the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) at BMA Bhaban in the capital.
Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Affairs SM Ziauddin Hyder noted that public health protection and tobacco control were key pledges in the government’s election manifesto.
He mentioned the government’s firm stance on protecting children and adolescents from the harmful effects of tobacco and nicotine, adding that the finalisation of the 2026-27 budget is a crucial opportunity for effective action.
Presenting the keynote paper, DORP Coordinator Zeba Afroza highlighted expert proposals to reduce the number of cigarette tiers from four to three to simplify tax collection. She explained that since the prices of low and medium-tier cigarettes are currently close, consumers easily switch tiers when prices rise.
To address this, experts proposed merging these tiers, setting a 10-stick pack price at Tk100, and imposing a Tk4 specific tax alongside the existing 67 per cent supplementary duty to make tobacco less accessible to the youth.
Dhaka University’s Institute of Health Economics Director Shafiun Nahin pointed out that the proposed budget only increases the price of low-tier cigarettes from Tk60 to Tk 62 per 10-stick pack.
He argued this Tk2 increase is negligible given that inflation averages over 9 per cent and that these cigarettes account for 75 per cent of the market. He further noted that while the official price per stick is Tk6.2, retailers already sell them for Tk7, allowing tobacco companies to pocket an untaxed profit of approximately Tk0.8 per stick.
This discrepancy, based on the 68.89 billion low-tier sticks sold in the 2023-24 financial year, results in an additional income of approximately Tk5,512 crore for tobacco companies, revenue the government is currently losing.
DAB Secretary General Md Zahirul Islam expressed concern that taxing nicotine pouches, granules, and Heated Tobacco Products (HTP) in the proposed budget effectively grants them legal status. He warned this could expand the market and increase nicotine addiction risks among teenagers.
Presiding over the session, DAB President Harun Al Rashid urged the government to reconsider the tax structure for low-tier cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.
He mentioned implementing the experts’ proposals would encourage 500,000 adults to quit smoking and prevent 372,000 young people from starting the habit.
The seminar featured a welcome speech by DORP Founder and CEO AHM Nouman and was moderated by DORP Deputy Executive Director Mohammad Zobayer Hasan. Other attendees included Iqbal Masud of Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Dr Sohel Reza Choudhury of the National Heart Foundation, and youth representatives Ratri and Sondhi.
