Why is the GST High on Nicotine Replacement Products?

Higher Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) products could be encouraging smoking rather than deterring it. This tax hike has been considered to be working against the National Health Policy.

This alarming discrepancy in the GST rates will not help India tackle the menace of tobacco smoking and would risk higher morbidity due to lifestyle and non-communicable diseases.

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‘Nicotine Polacrilex gum comes under the 18% slab, as against 11.3% average total indirect tax under the pre-GST regime. This alarming difference in the rates will not help India tackle the menace of tobacco smoking and but would in turn risk higher deaths due to non-communicable diseases’

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In a country like India, with more than 100 million smokers and over one-fifth of the world’s tobacco-related deaths, tobacco de-addiction (both smoking & smokeless) is the key area for the government under the ambit of the country’s Health Policy. The government has announced its aim to reduce tobacco use by 15% by 2020 and eventually 30% by 2030. For us as a country how do we provide tobacco addicts with easy access to rehabilitation related products and services, which become increasingly unaffordable due to the GST related issue.

According to Dr. Jagannath P, Former State Consultant for Karnataka, and also worked for a WHO-funded project on National Tobacco Control Program “NRT has been instrumental in aiding innumerable smokers quit the habit. Global health bodies such as WHO and the United States Federal and Drug Administration (US FDA) have also identified NRT as an aid to smoking cessation and recommends it as the first line of treatment. Making NRT expensive would defeat the aim of the government in striving for a healthier nation and enhanced productivity.”

“NRT is an effective and easy aid to help quit smoking. By making NRT accessible to millions in India, we could decrease smoking-related disease burden by successfully mitigating the risks of lung cancer, emphysema, stroke, heart attack and complications in pregnancy. With the usage of Nicotine Replacement Therapy, the mortality rate due to smoking-related diseases would drop drastically within just a few years of quitting smoking, even for long-time smokers.” added Dr. Rajam Iyer, Pulmonologist associated with Bhatia and Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai.

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NRT provides small quantities of nicotine to the brain, without exposing the body to other harmful products of tobacco combustion. This small quantity of nicotine helps a smoker overcome the urge to smoke, which in turn helps him quit the habit. Let GST not be a hindrance to India’s Health mission. India’s present & future is primarily dependent on good health. GST should enhance the health seeking behavior of millions and not deter.

Source-Medindia

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