As in most of the developing world, the tobacco industry in Nepal is a potent lobby. This is the reason it has been able to put on hold the implementation of the much-anticipated Tobacco Product Control and Regulatory Act-2010. Cigarette factories in Nepal produce over 7.5 billion sticks every year, resulting in billions of rupees in revenues. A big chunk of this money is pumped into what the World Health Organization terms ‘stealth marketing’ of tobacco products, where the tobacco companies employ backdoor tactics like ‘sponsoring’ charities and increasing their visibility through ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ activities. The tobacco industry still seems to have a lot going for it. In the most recent setback to the anti-smoking campaigners in the country, the Supreme Court issued a stay order on the Act’s provision banning the sale of individual cigarette sticks. Other important provisions like printing colored pictures showing harmful effects of smoking to cover 75 percent of packet of tobacco products has also been shelved. Simply put: the tobacco companies have been able to circumvent laws by greasing the right palms. They are now threatening ‘significant job cuts’ if the Act came into force. Such clout of the tobacco industry is troubling in a country where 37 percent of the population consumes tobacco products and 16,000 die from tobacco-related diseases every year. [break]
It is a big drain on government coffers as well. Over Rs 1.6 billion is spent in the treatment of tobacco-related diseases every year. But despite the increasing resources going into tobacco control and treatment of related diseases, very little seems to have been achieved so far. WHO’s slogan for the World No Tobacco Day (May 31) this year was “Ban Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship.” WHO believes banning tobacco advertising and sponsorship is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce tobacco use since one third of youth experimentation with tobacco occurs as a result of exposure to tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship. So how do the tobacco companies get across to this vulnerable group? Again, as WHO points out, they use CSR activities “to promote themselves as good corporate citizens, normalizing tobacco use and creating goodwill in the community.” In these turbulent times, the tobacco industry in Nepal has found enough wiggle room not just to stay afloat, but to flourish.
One of the main reasons the government has been reluctant to take on the tobacco industry is that it is an important source of vital revenues. It isn’t a coincidence that during every budget tax on tobacco products goes up—considerably. While the government might have the best interest of the people at heart, it also gives the industry the pretext to justify its existence. But it is time to look beyond the narrow picture. No amount of tax money can compensate for the thousands of lost lives and widespread sickness caused by tobacco products. The threat posed by tobacco will only grow the longer the government fails to impose its writ on banning smoking in public places and enclosed spaces and cracking down, hard, on production, promotion and selling of all kinds of tobacco products.
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