Health considerations

There is no dearth of laws discouraging the consumption of tobacco in the country. However, from children to grown-ups, many, seemingly unmindful of the adverse health effects, tend to use tobacco. Granted, tobacco products are a source of government income and employment. But the deadly health effects caused by the use of tobacco products, especially in unfiltered varieties, should make us consider limiting production and imposing more tax on these products.

Health effects come first when we think of problems caused by tobacco and in developing countries like Nepal, the situation is dire. Each year, about 16,000 people die annually from causes related to the consumption of tobacco and about 90 percent of those deaths are due to lung cancer, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In Nepal, one in two men and one in three women is likely to have used tobacco, the WHO estimates. In areas where tobacco production is high, such as in Ilam, almost seven out of ten people tend to smoke cigarettes.

Earnings and expenses

Second, the economic side of tobacco use is also what we should be worried about. On average, a Nepali tobacco user spends about five percent of their income on tobacco products. Since the given figure is an average, it would seem intuitive that people in the villages, who earn relatively less than city dwellers, tend to spend a larger proportion—more than 10 percent—of their income on demerit goods like tobacco.

However, it is worth considering that the government collects much revenue from tobacco products, which, in turn, can be used for cancer control. According to the Finance Ministry, Nepal earned about Rs 410 million from tobacco tax revenues alone in the fiscal year 2012. Nevertheless, does this figure make up for the cost paid by both individuals and the society in tackling the aftermath of tobacco use?

What is also worth considering is the cost non-smokers, including children and pregnant women, pay in the process of second-hand smoking.

Another problem with smoking in Nepal is the quality of cigarettes. Unfiltered cigarettes, being cheaper than filtered ones, end up mostly with rural smokers, who suffer more because unfiltered cigarettes contain relatively more tar and nicotine, among other chemicals.

Taxing tobacco

So increasing taxes might be profitable for the government but the ones who are hit most by the price hike tend to be poorer smokers who have to resort to unfiltered ones, as these are taxed less. However, if we were to ban the production of unfiltered ones, the addicted, unaware and impoverished smokers would have no way but to decrease their smoking. According to the WHO, in places like India, a 10 percent rise in cigarette prices resulted in a 3.2 percent reduction in consumption, both filtered and unfiltered, in rural areas. A 10 percent rise in the price of bidi resulted in a 9.2 percent reduction of consumption in rural and 8.5 percent reduction in urban areas. So, in order to discourage smoking, government agencies, NGOs and health organisations advocating for taxation on cigarettes need to place special emphasis on imposing tax on unfiltered ones.

If we are able to make the rural population, as the majority of smokers are from our villages, aware of adverse health effects and initiate efforts to rehabilitate addicted ones, maybe we can find a way around this problem. Maybe, there will be a day when the cases of smokers being discouraged outnumber the cases of smokers spending more of their income on cigarettes. Maybe, someday, a Nepali earning Rs 100 will be happy seeing his kids with a new pair of clothes from the money he would otherwise have spent on bidis.

Adhikari is an intern at the Post