PRESS RELEASE: Strict tobacco control is needed to ensure a tobacco free Bangladesh declared by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to protect public health. To achieve this goal, it’s important to have strong tobacco control law and effective taxation of tobacco products.
Parliamentarians made the remark at a discussion meeting titled ‘Actions for Achieving Tobacco Free Bangladesh Declared by Hon’ble Prime Minister’ held at the Parliament Members’ Club, National Parliament Building on Thursday (March 10). The meeting was jointly organized by National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh and Tobacco Free Bangladesh Platform.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP, Convener of Tobacco Free Bangladesh Platform and Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change presided over the meeting. Professor Sohel Reza Choudhury, Head, Department of Epidemiology and Research, National Heart Foundation Hospital, presented the keynote at the meeting.
In the keynote, he said that there are some gaps in the existing tobacco control law, as a result of which the law has not been able to play a proper role in reducing tobacco use. He pointed out the need for six important amendments to the law. These include abolishing the provision of ‘smoking zone’ in all public places and public transport, banning the display of tobacco products in shops, banning CSR of tobacco companies, banning the import, production, sale and use of e-cigarettes, increasing the size of the graphical health warning to 90% of tobacco products and prohibit the sale of single stick bidi-cigarettes. At the same time, Professor Sohel Reza Choudhury highlighted the importance of effective taxation to reduce the easy availability of tobacco products.
In his speech, Saber Hossain Chowdhury said that in order to implement tobacco free Bangladesh, the availability of tobacco products has to be reduced. Therefore, it is important to impose specific taxes on all types of tobacco products. In addition, to ensure the health protection of nonsmokers, the law should be amended and the provision of keeping ‘smoking area’ in public place should be repealed.
The meeting was attended by Rashed Khan Menon MP, Manjur Hossain MP, Khodeza Nasreen Akhter Hossain MP and Naheed Ezaher Khan MP. Among others, Professor Mostafizur Rahman, former director of the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital, Professor Golam Mohiuddin Faruk, Project Director of Bangladesh Cancer Society, Mr. Mostafizur Rahman, Lead Policy Advisor Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Bangladesh were present at the meeting.
NEWS FROM Mahamud Setu. Media Manager, Anti-tobacco Program. National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh. #
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