Govt urged to amend existing laws for a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040

Chairman of parliamentary standing committees on different ministries today urged the government to amend the existing tobacco control laws to implement a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040.

They made the appeal at a discussion held at the office of Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change at the office of Saber Hossain Chowdhury at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The meeting was jointly organised by National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh and Tobacco Free Bangladesh Mancha.

Speakers at the meeting said that there are some weaknesses in the existing tobacco control law due to which it is not able to reduce tobacco use.

They called for the amendment of the law in line with the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control-FCTC.

Presided over by Saber Hossain Chowdhury, chairman, parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of environment, the meeting was attended among others, Shamsul Haque Tuku, chairman, parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mokbul Hossain, chairman, parliamentary watchdog on the Ministry of Land, lawmakers-- Rezaul Karim Bablu, Khodeja Nasrin Akhter Hossain and Khadijatul Anwar.

The meeting discussed six important amendments to the Tobacco Control Act. Especially at this time in Corona, they proposed necessary amendments to make all types of public places and public transport totally from tobacco.

They also said that in the light of FCTC, it is necessary to ban the display of tobacco products in shops, ban corporate social responsibilities, ban the import, production, sale and use of e-cigarettes, fix the size of packaging of tobacco products and ban the retail sale of tobacco products.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury said that in order to make the country tobacco free by 2040 as per the announcement of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the existing tobacco control laws need to be amended in some cases.

"If the law is amended, it will be able to play a role in protecting public health more effectively," he said.

Emphasizing on the need to protect public health, Mokbul Hossain said that in order to reduce the use of tobacco, the availability of these harmful products should be reduced.

He said that indirect advertisements of tobacco should be stopped and sale of tobacco products should be banned everywhere.

The meeting was attended by, among others, Secretary General of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, Professor Khandaker Abdul Awal (Rizvi), Professor Sohail Reza Chowdhury, Head of the Department of Pathology and Research, National Heart Foundation Hospital.