To safeguard public health, the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) on Wednesday urged the government to immediately amend the country's tobacco control law and ban the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of tobacco companies.
At a virtual meeting, it also urged the government to ban the sale and import of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products to protect the young generation.
According to the organisation, tobacco claims around 1.61 lakh lives a year in Bangladesh and also causes hundreds of thousands of disabilities. The number of tobacco users is around 40 million, which is a matter of grave concern.
To facilitate a change, Bangladesh needs to amend its tobacco control law and make it more befitting, speakers at the event pointed out.
The ATMA also proposed removing the provision of designated smoking zones as well as banning smoking in all public places, workplaces, and public transport to ensure a comprehensive tobacco-free environment.
Its Co-convener Nadira Kiran recommended banning the display of tobacco products at the points of sale and prohibiting the sale of single sticks as well as unpackaged smokeless tobacco.
She also urged the government to impose stricter rules on packaging, including increasing the size of graphic health warnings.
PROGGA Executive Director ABM Zubair, Lead Policy Adviser at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Bangladesh Mortuza Haider Liton, Head of Programme at PROGGA Md Hasan Shahriar, another ATMA Co-convener Mizan Chowdhury, and Desh TV Editor Sukanta Gupta Alak also spoke there.
