Prevalence and Patterns of Tobacco Use in Bangladesh from 2009 to 2012: Evidence from International Tobacco Control (ITC) Study

Abstract

The overall decline in tobacco use can be viewed as a structural shift in the tobacco market in Bangladesh from low value products such as bidi and smokeless tobacco to high value cigarettes, which is expected with the growth in income and purchasing power of the general population. Despite the reduction in overall tobacco use, the male smoking prevalence in Bangladesh is still high at 37%. The world average of daily smoking among men is 31.1%. The Tobacco Control Act 2005 and the Amendment have yet to make a significant impact in curbing tobacco usage in Bangladesh. The findings in this paper further suggest that the tobacco control policies in Bangladesh need to include targeted interventions to restrain the use of particular types of tobacco products among specific demographic and socio-economic groups of the population, such as smoked tobacco among men, smokeless tobacco among women, and both smoked and smokeless tobacco among those living in rural areas, those in low socio-economic status and those belonging to the tribal and the slum population.