8.6 million Nepalis still consume tobacco products, governing law awaits implementation

KATHMANDU, July 8: Although the government has made strict rules for the control and regulation of tobacco products, they are yet to be effectively implemented. 

Although laws have been enacted to control the use and consumption of tobacco related products, the number of users is still on the rise. Due to poor enforcement,  the number of people suffering from tobacco-related diseases is also increasing.

The Tobacco Products (Control and Regulation) Act -2011, which aims at preventing people from smoking and consuming tobacco products,  is yet to be effectively implemented and monitored. 

The act states that anyone who smokes or consumes tobacco in a public place shall be expelled from that place or liable to pay a fine of one hundred rupees or the both punishment may be imposed. 

However, people are seen flouting the law and they are rarely booked owring to the lack of 

effective mechanism. Not a single person has been taken action against as per the law, showing how poorly laws are enforced in the country. 

At least 27,000 people die in Nepal in a year due to various health complexities caused by the consumption of tobacco products. According to the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), excessive consumption of tobacco products has posed a serious threat of non-communicable diseases relating to kidney, heart, liver and so on. 

Nepalis spend more than Rs 50 billion in a year to cure the health problems caused by the consumption of tobacco products. 

NARC shared that 28.9 percent of the total population of the country use tobacco related products which equals to 8,670,000 people.

Stakeholders argue that a high rate of taxes should be levied on tobacco related products in a bid to discourage people from consuming them. The government also generates revenue amounting Rs 36 billion a year from those products. 

Nepalis spend Rs 109 billion yearly on tobacco products 

Tobacco consumption costs Rs 109 billion annually. According to a study by the council, a tobacco user in Nepal spends an average of Rs 1,050 a month, meaning a consumer of tobacco products spends an average of Rs 12,600 a year.

According to the World Health Organization, 8 million die due to consumption of tobacco products across the world. In what appears to be a much more threatening fact, 1.2 million passive smokers die due to cigarette smoke exhaled by the smokers.