Finalise tobacco control law immediately: Campaigners to govt
35.3% of adults in Bangladesh are still using tobacco which claims 1.61 lakh lives every year
The delay in finalising the amendment to the tobacco control law is only increasing the deaths and losses incurred by tobacco use, experts said during a workshop in Dhaka on Monday.
The journalists' workshop titled "Tobacco Control Law Amendment: Progress, Barriers, and Way Forward" was held at the conference room of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners.
Speakers also urged the government to finalise the amendment as early as possible. Thirty journalists from print, television, and online media attended the workshop organised by PROGGA and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance.
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It was informed during the workshop that with approval from the cabinet, the amendment process will get one step closer to finalisation. The draft amendment includes proposals such as elimination of designated smoking areas, banning so-called corporate social responsibility programmes of tobacco companies, banning the display of tobacco products in points-of-sale, banning the sale of loose sticks and also banning e-cigarettes and other vaping products.
The draft of the latest tobacco control law amendment, prepared by the Health Services Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, is based on global best practices, said the speakers.
Despite incessant interference from the tobacco industry, the prevalence of tobacco use is in decline all over the world, they said.
The speakers also said one in every three adults of the world used to be tobacco users in 2000, but the number came down to one in every five adults.
However, 35.3% of adults in Bangladesh are still using tobacco which claims 1.61 lakh lives every year, they said.
Among the discussants present in the workshop were Maheen Malik, regional director of South Asia Programs, Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, Md Mostafizur Rahman, Bangladesh lead policy adviser of Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, Zahirul Alam, head of news of NTV, Liton Haider, convenor of Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance, Nadira Kiron and Mizan Chowdhury, both co-conveners of Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance, and ABM Zubair, executive director of PROGGA.
