Treatment cost is more than revenue collection from tobacco consumption: Farida

Fisheries and Livestock Adviser Farida Akther today (15 January) said the medical expense is more than revenue collection from tobacco consumption.

"More money is spent on medical expenses due to the consumption of tobacco products than the revenue generated from tobacco products," she told a seminar titled "Obstacles and Actions to Implement Tobacco Tax Policy to Protect Public Health."

The Bureau of Economic Research of Dhaka University and the Bangladesh Network for Tobacco Tax Policy (BNTTP) organised the seminar at the CIRDAP auditorium.

"The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock is the most affected one by tobacco production, as tobacco is cultivated on the banks of rivers, especially Halda and Teesta. And due to the use of pesticides and fertilizers in tobacco cultivation, fish in the relevant areas are dying," she added.

She said that tobacco companies claim that 15 lakh people (sellers) are involved in the tobacco industry, but most of them are child laborers.

"It is necessary to see whether this number of people is actually involved in producing as well as selling tobacco or not," she opined.

Directorate of National Consumers' Right Protection Director General Mohammad Alim Akhter Khan addressed the seminar as a special guest with BNTTP technical committee member Md Shafiqul Islam in the chair.

Joint Secretary of railway ministry Mir Alamgir Hossain, Joint Secretary of industries ministry Apurba Kimar Mandal, BNTTP technical committee member Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam, Bangladesh Cancer Society Chairman Professor Dr Golam Mohiuddin Faruque, National Board of Revenue Second Secretary Md Badruzzaman Munsi, Tobacco Free Kids Lead Policy Adviser Md Mustafizur Rahman and National Tobacco Control Cell DG Md Akhtaruz-Zaman, among others, were present in the seminar.

BNTTP technical committee member and journalist Sushanto Sinha read out the keynote paper.