Tobacco Industry Interference in Bangladesh

By ABM Zubair (The Asian Age)

Global Toll of Tobacco Use

Tobacco, as the World Health Organization (WHO) puts it, is the only legal consumer product that kills nearly half of its consumers when used as intended by the manufacturer. Globally tobacco is responsible for more than 8 million deaths each year, with majority of these deaths occurring in low- and middle- income countries. Bangladesh, the world's 8th largest cigarette market, sees a yearly loss of at least 161,000 lives due to high prevalence of tobacco use. Being the leading cause of preventable deaths all over the world, the very nature and interest of tobacco industry is perpetually at odds with that of public health. Historically, tobacco industry tends to leave no stone unturned in resisting regulations and introducing fatal products with maximum appeal to turn the youth into loyal customers. 

Why Article 5.3 of WHO FCTC Matters

This prompted the World Health Organization to adopt Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), designed to protect public health policies from the vested interests and interference of tobacco industry. Article 5.3 guidelines require that parties implement specific measures to limit interactions with tobacco industry, avoid conflict of interest, reject partnership, promote transparency during engagement and above all, de-normalize tobacco industry, as a whole.

Industry Interference in Policy Formulation

Against this backdrop, it goes without saying that the decision of Bangladesh's high-powered Advisory Committee, formed to revise and finalize the draft amendment of the tobacco control law, to meet tobacco industry representatives as 'stakeholders' stands against the very essence of the FCTC. Needless to say, such move has been warmly welcomed by the tobacco industry as echoed by a number of articles that have surfaced recently on some leading dailies and online platforms. Lauding the decision of the Advisory Committee as 'timely' and 'pragmatic', these pro-tobacco pieces argue that the policymakers should consult 'stakeholders' which, as they suggest, include tobacco companies, tobacco farmers, retailers and revenue bodies of the government. Pointing to the revenue generation aspect of tobacco industry, these articles also insist that disengagement with tobacco industry while formulating public health policies is the result of intentional misinterpretation of FCTC Article 5.3 by certain local and international anti-tobacco organizations and such strategy would have disastrous consequences on the government's revenue inflow and cause massive loss of livelihoods.

Economic Myths and Misleading Claims

Following the adoption of FCTC in 2003 World Health Assembly, magnifying revenue contribution has emerged as the topmost tactic in tobacco industry playbook since it allows industry lobby to hijack and shift any policy discussion from health to alleged economic losses caused by a robust tobacco control measure. In Bangladesh, tobacco industry's exaggerated claim of its contribution in the country's economic well-being as well as in job creation has long been debunked. Citing American Cancer Society's report, Dhaka-based the Centre for Research and Advocacy to Fight Tobacco (CRAFT) mentioned that in FY 2017-18, tobacco-induced deaths and diseases alone cost the economy of Bangladesh around BDT 305.6 billion ($3.61 billion), which was equivalent to roughly 1.4 percent of the then national GDP, far exceeding the revenue earning from tobacco that FY which was BDT 228.1 billion. It is also worth noting that tobacco has been ranked as the fourth major contributing factors behind premature deaths in the country. While some pro-tobacco pieces put the number of farmers involved in tobacco cultivation at 150,000, one must consider the fact that this constitutes less than 1 percent of 16.56 million farm households of Bangladesh. Even the farmers currently engaged in tobacco cultivation can easily switch to cultivating other alternative crops, as encouraged by the Department of Agricultural Extension. Another concerning fact is that subsidized fertilizer, intended to boost the country's food production, is often being used in cultivating tobacco for large multinational companies. Similarly, the claim that tobacco accounts for 14 percent of retail jobs is also a manipulation of tobacco companies since tobacco products constitute a small portion of products in retail shops. Besides, a 2020 report reveals that global job losses in tobacco sector is a result of automation and other improvements in manufacturing technology. In addition, global experience suggests that tobacco control tends to have neutral or positive impact on job creation as money saved from reduction in the prevalence of tobacco use shifts is usually spent on other sectors. The exaggeration of tobacco industry's impact on job creation echoes that of bidi industry. For example, bidi industry at different times put the number of its workforce at 1.5 million, 2 million, and 2.5 million. However, in 2019, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) released a report titled 'The Revenue and Employment Outcome of Biri Taxation in Bangladesh' which refuted the claims made by pro bidi industry groups regarding the size of bidi industry workforce. As per the study, the total number of full-time equivalent workers, including those regular, irregular, and contractual, is only 46,916 worked in the 198 functional bidi factories on a regular basis.

Due to the fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interest of public health and that of tobacco industry, the claim that tobacco industry must be 'at the table' as stakeholder during tobacco control policy formulation does not hold much water. One cannot but keep in mind the fact that this is an industry that, for decades, knowingly denied that its deadly products cause cancer and falsely claimed secondhand smoke to be safe. In a 2023 WHO alert, the organization clearly mentioned, "The tobacco industry has no place in tobacco control or harm reduction policy. The tobacco industry should not be a partner in any initiative linked to setting or implementing public health policies, knowing that its interests are in direct conflict with the goals of public health."

Despite mounting evidence of tobacco's disastrous impact on a country's economic well-being, it is apparent that the government of Bangladesh continues to view the issue of tobacco control through the revenue generation lens solely. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), in 2021, took the initiative to strengthen the existing Smoking and Tobacco Products (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2013 through a long overdue amendment. Following the formulation of draft amendment proposal, subsequent release of the draft on website, gathering opinions from stakeholders, holding inter-ministerial meeting, the draft was placed before the Advisory Council for approval on 7 November 2024. Later, through a notification published on 9 December 2024, a high-powered Advisory Committee was formed to further revise the draft. Despite the three-year long painstaking effort of MoHFW in the face on incessant tobacco industry interference, it is the Finance Advisor who has been selected to chair the high-powered Advisory Committee, revealing a deep-rooted flaw in how the government perceives the issue of tobacco control.

BATB’s History of Influence

It should also be noted that British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) previously got the National Board of Revenue (NBR), a statutory body under the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance, to interfere on its behalf on the formulation and implementation of major tobacco control policies, such as the implementation of Graphic Health Warning (GHW), National Tobacco Control Policy (NTCP) and other tobacco control measure of the MoHFW, which earned stern rebuke from the tobacco control community. Previously, BATB sent a letter addressed to the Large Taxpayer Unity (LTU) of NBR on 25 August 2022, where the company deplored the amendment initiative as 'impractical and unimplementable' and sought interference from NBR in this matter. Responding to BATB's letter, NBR intervened in the amendment process and sent a letter addressed to the Secretary of Health Services Division, where it expressed concern over the implementation aspect of the draft amendment.

Global Patterns of Industry Manipulation

According to FCTC Secretariat paper titled "Impact of implementation of the WHO FCTC on the tobacco industry's behavior", tobacco industry's tactics evolved following the adoption of FCTC and now can be put into six categories, such as: exaggerating the economic contribution of tobacco industry; use of front groups to bolster its demands; hijacking the political and legislative process; discrediting proven science; threatening governments with litigation, and manipulating public opinion to gain the appearance of respectability. Nearly all the tactics mentioned above are at play in Bangladesh to derail the amendment process of the tobacco control law. 

Conclusion

The future of the country's public health depends on how Bangladesh navigates itself through traps set by Big Tobacco and ensures the quick passage and implementation of the amendment, which is based on global best practices.

The writer is Executive Director of PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress)