Addressing Tobacco and Poverty in Bangladesh

While tobacco use has widely been recognized as a significant contributor to disease and early death, only in the last several years has recognition of the connection between tobacco and poverty become more widespread. The first major report on the topic1 was published in 2001, and revealed that the money spent by the poor on tobacco could help 10.5 million malnourished children have adequate diets if 70% of it were spent on food instead, thereby saving 350 lives a day.

An Economic Tool to
Increase Goverment Revenue
and Improve Health: Tobacco Tax

This report analyzes national statistics on expenditures for tobacco and food. A key finding is that an estimated 10.5 million malnourished children would have enough to eat if their parents spent money on food rather than tobacco.

Following the launch of BAT's youth smoking prevention campaign, BATA conducted research on the campaign, including a survey of school children and a focus group in which participants commented on the BAT campaign and compared its materials to its cigarette ads. This report contains information about our research, as well as international knowledge about industry-sponsored youth smoking prevention campaigns.

Far from being "an independent international trade association", the ITGA is in reality a public relations vehicle created by the tobacco industry in the 1980s to front its lobbying against international tobacco control initiatives by giving the industry a human face and a Third World grassroots voice.

This report contains research in Bangladesh on various aspects of tobacco control law (children's exposure to advertising, and popular demand for strong tobacco control law and for smoke-free transport), on efforts by the tobacco industry to weaken laws in other countries, and recommendations for action in Bangladesh.

In collaboration with PATH Canada, WBB has written a manual on tobacco control.  The manual contains detailed information about the problem of tobacco control by sector--health, environment, national and family economics, and so on--and with many detailed, practical suggestions on how organizations and individuals can work in tobacco control.  For a hard copy in Bengali or English, please contact WBB.

This report is a compilation of surveys from India and Bangladesh on the situation of tobacco farmers, bidi rollers, tendu leaf pickers (for rolling bidis), and the poorest of the poor who use tobacco. The report challenges the claims of the tobacco industry that tobacco is beneficial to countries' economies and employment. The report was produced by PATH Canada with funding from World Vision Taiwan and Canada, and includes research conducted by WBB.

Full of examples from around the world, this guide offers practical suggestions for low-cost ways to use the media to advocate for strong tobacco control law and a strong FCTC.

This book focuses on case studies from around the world in tobacco control. Chapter 2 of this publication features tobacco research of the WBB and the story of the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance. It is entitled "Building Momentum for Tobacco Control: The case of Bangladesh".