Public Health on Top

The Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 is a timely and laudable initiative to safeguard public health. However, in an effort to obstruct the passage of the ordinance into a law in the incoming Parliament, tobacco companies have already facilitated the publication of misleading report, opinion and editorial pieces in different media platforms. These publications only advance unfounded claims, such as stricter legislation would reduce inflow of tobacco revenue and that banning e-cigarettes is unjustified because they are allegedly less harmful. Against this backdrop, anti-tobacco activists expect that, by enacting the ordinance into law, the elected government will make a sustained and long-term contribution to reducing the burden of tobacco-related deaths as well as the country’s socio economic losses associated with tobacco use.

Policy Exchange Bangladesh has recently published a research report on tobacco tax structure of Bangladesh. While the study does acknowledge that implementing a specific excise tax could increase government revenue from the tobacco sector, it does not clearly show how such a policy measure would reduce tobacco use or tobacco-related deaths. It is noteworthy that the organization has opposed proposals to ban e-cigarettes and vaping products and, in 2024, organized a roundtable discussion titled “Policy for Progress: Towards Harm Reduction” with a national daily, involving individuals associated with Philip Morris International (PMI). We must keep in mind that effective tax and price measures can safeguard public health and enhance government revenue. It is our expectation that the relevant authorities will move decisively towards such an end.