Workshop on Tobacco Price, Tax Measures of FY 2023-24 held

Staff Reporter :
Speakers at a workshop said that increasing tobacco products prices is a key to make the country tobacco free within the time frame of 2040.
They said that tobacco products must be taken out of the people’s purchasing power by imposing specific taxes in the upcoming national budget of FY 2023-24. This would reduce tobacco-induced diseases and deaths, increase government revenue and ease revenue collection. Most countries have already chosen specific taxation as the best available method to tax tobacco products. It is high time for Bangladesh to follow suit and introduce such a modern method to tax tobacco. There is much scope for the media to uphold public interest by playing a strong role in facilitating the introduction of specific taxes. Speakers said this on Wednesday at a journalists’ workshop titled “Tobacco Price and Tax Measures: Budget 2023-24”, held at BMA Bhaban of the capital. The workshop was jointly organized by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), with support from Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids (CTFK). A total of 29 journalists from print, television, and online media participated in the workshop.
During the workshop, the budget proposal was presented by Dr. Syed Mahfuzul Haq, National Professional Officer, World Health Organization (Bangladesh Country Office) and Md. Hasan Shahriar, Project Head, Tobacco Control, PROGGA.