Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad's newly elected Deputy Speaker Adv Md Shamsul Haque Tuku and other Members of Parliament have demanded amendments to the existing Tobacco Control law.
Lawmakers made the call at the reception ceremony of the newly appointed deputy speaker of the Bangladesh Parliament, organised by the Bangladesh Parliamentary Forum for Health and Wellbeing and Shastho Shurokkha Foundation at the LD hall of Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad, said a press release.
The deputy speaker participated as the chief guest, and the event was chaired by Prof Dr Md Habibe Millat.
Every year 1 lakh 61 thousand people die prematurely in Bangladesh due to tobacco-related diseases. Lawmakers demand to pass the proposed 6 amendments to the Tobacco Control law in the Bangladesh Parliament to prevent communicable and non-communicable diseases and to avoid the harmful effects of tobacco on public health, the release added.
“A combined effort is needed to build a tobacco-free Bangladesh. All political parties should come forward in unity,” Deputy Speaker Adv. Shamsul Haque Tuku said.
“In this case, it is necessary to amend the Tobacco Control Law,” he added.
Tobacco is one of the key reasons for non-communicable diseases. We are working on tobacco control through parliamentary forums. We have seen how tobacco companies operate. We have written to the Hon'ble Prime Minister and Health Minister recommending amendments to the Tobacco law and banning of e-cigarettes,” Prof Dr Md Habibe Millat said during his speech.
The 6 proposed amendments include banning “designated smoking areas (DSA)” in all public places and public transport; Prohibiting the display of tobacco products at points of sale; banning tobacco company social responsibility (CSR) programs; Ban all emerging tobacco products, including e-cigarettes; Increasing the size of health warnings on tobacco product packets/packets from 50 per cent to 90 per cent and banning the retail sale of bidi-cigarettes.
