Tobacco kills more than 8 million people globally every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). More than 7 million of these deaths are from direct tobacco use and about 1.2 million are due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. In Bangladesh, about 0.126 million people died due to tobacco-attributable diseases, which constituted 13.5 per cent of all deaths in 2018. The economic cost of tobacco use was estimated at Tk 30,570 crore ($3.6 billion), which was about 1.4 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP in fiscal 2017-18. Tobacco use is a known risk factor for many respiratory infections and increases the severity of respiratory diseases. A review of studies by public health experts convened by the WHO on 29 April has found that smokers are more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19 compared to non-smokers. Available research also suggests that smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death. Bangladesh is one of the largest tobacco consumers in the world with 37.8 million adults aged 15 years and above — which is about 35.3 per cent of the country’s population — consuming tobacco products, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 2017. Although the overall prevalence of tobacco use declined by 18.5 per cent from 2009 to 2107, the consumption of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco (SLT) remains very high. The recent response of the tobacco tax policy to the coronavirus pandemic is very disappointing.
Tobacco kills more than 8 million people globally every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). More than 7 million of these deaths are from direct tobacco use and about 1.2 million are due to non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. In Bangladesh, about 0.126 million people died due to tobacco-attributable diseases, which constituted 13.5 per cent of all deaths in 2018. The economic cost of tobacco use was estimated at Tk 30,570 crore ($3.6 billion), which was about 1.4 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP in fiscal 2017-18. Tobacco use is a known risk factor for many respiratory infections and increases the severity of respiratory diseases. A review of studies by public health experts convened by the WHO on 29 April has found that smokers are more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19 compared to non-smokers. Available research also suggests that smokers are at higher risk of developing severe disease and death. Bangladesh is one of the largest tobacco consumers in the world with 37.8 million adults aged 15 years and above — which is about 35.3 per cent of the country’s population — consuming tobacco products, according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 2017. Although the overall prevalence of tobacco use declined by 18.5 per cent from 2009 to 2107, the consumption of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco (SLT) remains very high. The recent response of the tobacco tax policy to the coronavirus pandemic is very disappointing.
