Young doctors call for cutting cigarette price tiers from four to three to curb consumption

Young doctors on Saturday called for effective taxation and price hikes on cigarettes as they are cheap and easily accessible in Bangladesh, posing a serious threat to public health — especially among the youth.

They also urged the government to reduce the existing four-tier cigarette price structure to three and increase cigarette prices in the upcoming national budget, said a press release.

The demand was made at a press conference held at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah Hall of the National Press Club. 

The speakers said that restructuring the cigarette tax framework and increasing prices, as per their proposal, would discourage consumption and boost government revenue. The press conference was organized by Platform Doctors Foundation with the support of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh.

At the event, the young doctors stated that the current complex, multi-tiered tax structure in Bangladesh is not effective in reducing tobacco consumption. Presently, the four-tier system (low, medium, high, and premium) limits the effectiveness of tobacco tax and pricing measures.

Since there is only a minimal price difference between low and medium-tier cigarettes, users can easily switch between tiers. Therefore, merging the low and medium tiers and raising prices would discourage consumption, particularly among the youth and low-income groups, while increasing government revenue.

Farzana Rahman Moon of Platform Doctors Foundation, said, "If our proposed tax reform is implemented in the 2025–26 fiscal year, nearly 2.4 million adult smokers could be encouraged to quit. Additionally, it could prevent the premature deaths of approximately 1.7 million people, including 900,000 youth.

Professor Dr Shafiun Nahin Shimul of the Institute of Health Economics at the University of Dhaka said it is essential to simplify the complex tax structure and raise cigarette prices to prioritise public health.

"The current revenue from tobacco covers only about 75% of the healthcare costs related to tobacco-induced illnesses. Effective taxation could increase revenue by 43% compared to the previous fiscal year," he said.

Professor Dr Sohel Reza Choudhury, head of the Department of Epidemiology and Research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, cited the World Health Organization, saying, more than 161,000 people die each year in Bangladesh due to non-communicable diseases caused by tobacco use. 

These preventable deaths can be reduced by making tobacco products unaffordable through effective taxation.

The young doctors also proposed merging the low and medium tiers of cigarettes and setting the retail price of 10-stick cigarette packs at Tk90 while they suggested keeping the retail price of high-tier cigarettes at Tk140 and setting the premium-tier price at Tk190 per 10 sticks. They further recommend maintaining a 67% supplementary duty, 15% VAT, and 1% health development surcharge on the retail price of cigarettes.

Additionally, they called for price increases on bidis and other tobacco products. Their recommendations include setting the retail price of 25-stick non-filtered bidis at Tk25 and 20-stick filtered bidis at Tk20, both subject to a 45% supplementary duty. For smokeless tobacco products like jarda and gul, they proposed setting the retail price at Tk55 and Tk30 per 10 grams, respectively, with a 60% supplementary duty.

Among others present at the press conference were Md. Naimul Azam Khan, Advisor to the Tobacco Control Program of the National Heart Foundation and Director of Joyeeta Foundation; Dr. Aruna Sarkar, Program Coordinator; Abu Jafor, Senior Communication Officer; Hasan Shahriar, Head of Programs at PROGGA, and Rashed Rabbani, President of Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum, along with representatives from various anti-tobacco organisations.