Heavy duty on tobacco products demanded

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RANGPUR, April 18, 2018 (BSS) – Anti-tobacco campaigners at a human chain programme today demanded heavy duty on all tobacco products in the upcoming national budget to discourage smoking and save public health.

Association for Community Development (ACD) and Rangpur Tobacco Control Coalition (RTCC) along with a number of non-governmental organisations organised the programme at Rangpur Press Club premises in the city.

Speakers said around 1.26-lakh people are embracing death annually from lung cancer, cerebra-vascular, coronary artery, chronic obstructive pulmonary and other tobacco-attributable diseases in Bangladesh.

To get rid of tobacco catastrophes, heavy excise taxes should be imposed on tobacco products side by side with strict enforcement of the tobacco control laws to reduce consumption of all tobacco products, they said.