Effective Tobacco Tax and Price Increase Demanded in the Upcoming National Budget
A discussion meeting organized by Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) was held on Thursday, 21 May 2026, at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka, demanding effective taxation and price increases on all tobacco products in the upcoming national budget for FY 2026–27 to protect public health.
The keynote paper presented at the event stated that Bangladesh currently has a four-tier cigarette pricing structure—low, medium, high, and premium. Around 90 percent of cigarettes sold in the market belong to the low and medium tiers, making tobacco products highly affordable and easily accessible, especially to young people and low-income populations. As a result, tobacco control efforts are becoming ineffective among these groups. The paper proposed merging the low and medium ti...