Tobacco Gant Squeezing Asean’s Poorest Countries

Source from:  The Nation 05/02/2017

British American Tobacco (BAT) is making big money out of the poorest countries in Asean. Tobacco use is declining in developed countries so tobacco companies are increasing sales in developing countries in Asia.

Asia-Pacific is important for BAT’s profits. The company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday announced profits of US$1.7 billion in the region last year, or 27 per cent of overall revenue. BAT sells 196 billion sticks in our region.

In Southeast Asia, BAT’s key markets for increased profits are Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. Tobacco-related deaths in these countries are increasing annually: at least 240,000 in Indonesia, 87,000 in the Philippines and 66,000 in Vietnam.

"Successful tobacco business means more diseases and death. Tobacco is not only damaging to health, but also causes social, economic and environmental harms to the world. All of this are preventable," said Bungon Ritthiphakdee, executive director of SEATCA.

In Southeast Asia, where half of all adult men smoke and where 10 per cent (125 million) of the world’s smokers live, tobacco kills about 500,000 people per year. Tobacco use in our region not only impoverishes the users but also burdens national economies with more than $10 billion in healthcare costs annually due to tobacco-related illnesses and premature deaths. 

"Smoking prevalence is much higher among men with low education and in low-income groups. In many ways, tobacco and poverty are part of the same vicious cycle in which tobacco worsens poverty. Money spent on tobacco means less money spent on basic necessities such as food, healthcare, shelter and education," Bungon added.

Tobacco farming is not a lucrative employment activity and does not lift farmers out of poverty. On average, a tobacco farmer in the Philippines earns $1,328 to $2,507 per year. This is nothing compared to the millions tobacco executives take home in their annual paycheques. The farmers’ income will never be enough to cover healthcare costs once they start getting sick from years of handling tobacco which poses health risks.

Child labour in tobacco growing has subsidised the cheap prices tobacco companies pay for the leaves. "Tobacco companies should not benefit from child labour. They do not have a zero-child labour policy, and purchase leaves made with child labour. Thousands of children are employed in hazardous conditions in Indonesia’s tobacco farms and other tobacco-growing countries in the Asean region. Work in tobacco farming also interferes with schooling for some children," remarked Bungon.

Nearly all the countries in the Asean region are Parties to the global treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and are obligated to reduce tobacco use. Effective public health measures include substantial increase on tobacco tax, ban on tobacco advertising and promotions such as packs display, and plain packaging of tobacco.  Enditem