In 2015 the Bangladesh government began to levy a 1 percent Health Development Surcharge (HDS) for all tobacco products, an amount of over BDT 600 Cr (~$71M) per year. The funds collected were intended to support key government programs including tobacco control and NCD prevention. However, owing to the lack of a separate economic code for the HDS, procuring the money and utilization became extremely difficult.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) recently issued an order to create a separate economic code for the HDS, one that would effectively establish a soft earmarking mechanism for tobacco control. The National Tobacco Control Cell at MOH is working to finalize a long-term tobacco control program that can utilize the HDS through this separate economic code.
This should make financing Bangladesh’s fight against tobacco and resulting NCDs, easier.
This is an extract from the original news article published in The Union.
Image credits: Flickr
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