Effective tobacco tax essential to protect public health: Minister Says

Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie on Wednesday called for stronger taxation on tobacco products in the national budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year, saying effective tobacco taxes were necessary to protect public health and reduce tobacco-related diseases.

Speaking at a seminar in Dhanmondi organised by Dhaka Ahsania Mission, the minister said the government remained committed to controlling non-communicable diseases caused by tobacco use in line with the electoral commitments of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

He said proposals to increase taxes and prices on tobacco products to build a healthier and tobacco-free Bangladesh would be raised in parliament and at relevant policymaking levels.

The seminar, titled “Need for Effective Tax and Price Increases on Tobacco Products to Control Tobacco-Induced Non-Communicable Diseases for Protecting Public Health”, was attended by former Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation chairman Mostafizur Rahman and Additional Secretary of the Health Services Division Sheikh Momina Moni as discussants.

Presenting the keynote paper, Professor Dr Shafiun Nahin Shimul, director of the Institute of Health Economics at University of Dhaka, said Bangladesh’s existing four-tier cigarette pricing system made tobacco products highly accessible, particularly to young people and low-income groups.

He noted that nearly 90 per cent of cigarettes sold in the country belonged to the low and medium price tiers, while the small price gap between the two categories allowed consumers to switch easily between them. He also warned that the widespread availability of smokeless tobacco products such as zarda, gul and bidi was contributing to higher tobacco consumption.

Professor Shimul proposed merging the low and medium cigarette tiers and setting the minimum retail price at Tk 100 for a 10-stick cigarette pack, Tk 150 for the high tier and Tk 200 for the premium tier in the next fiscal year. He also recommended maintaining a 67 per cent supplementary duty across all tiers and imposing a specific tax of Tk 4 per pack.

According to the keynote paper, implementing the proposed measures could discourage more than 372,000 young people from starting smoking and prevent over 185,000 premature deaths in the long term. The reforms could also generate around Tk 85,000 crore in government revenue from the tobacco sector, roughly Tk 44,000 crore more than the current fiscal year.

Sheikh Momina Moni said Bangladesh had the highest tobacco use rate in South Asia at 35.3 per cent, with nearly 200,000 people dying prematurely each year from tobacco-related diseases.

She added that the health and environmental damages caused by tobacco in 2024 amounted to around Tk 87,000 crore, more than double the revenue generated from the sector.

She said increasing tobacco taxes and prices in the upcoming budget would help Bangladesh advance its public health goals while strengthening financing for the health sector through sustainable revenue generation.

The seminar was chaired by Professor Dr Golam Rahman, president of Dhaka Ahsania Mission. Welcome remarks were delivered by Mukhlesur Rahman, deputy director of the health sector.

Other speakers included SM Dr Khalilur Rahman, Shariful Islam, and youth forum representatives Marjana Muntaha and Tasnim Hasan Abir.