Call for quick passage of Tobacco Control Law amendments 

With a united voice, young anti-tobacco advocates across the country have demanded the immediate passage of amendments to the Tobacco Control Act in a bid to protect public health. 

On Saturday morning (December 21), students from various universities, alongside members of the Mothers' Forum Against Tobacco, Nari Maitree, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, DORP, PROGGA, Shastho Surokkha Foundation, Unnayan Shamannay, National Heart Foundation and other anti-tobacco organizations joined hands in a human chain at Shahbagh in the city. 

They want six critical changes to strengthen the law and curb the deadly impact of tobacco. The proposed amendments include prohibiting designated smoking areas in all public places and public transport, banning the display of tobacco products at points of sale, and completely discouraging any form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities by tobacco companies. 

Additionally, they call for increasing the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco product packaging from 50% to 90%, prohibiting the retail sale of single cigarettes, loose tobacco, and unpackaged smokeless tobacco products, and fully banning all emerging tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. 

Speakers at the human chain referenced data from the Tobacco Atlas 2018, highlighting that approximately 161,000 individuals in Bangladesh die prematurely each year due to tobacco-related illnesses, which translates to 442 deaths per day. 

Tobacco use is associated with a range of diseases, including heart disease, lung conditions, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, kidney diseases, and injuries. Women and children are especially at risk from the detrimental effects of secondhand smoke, which can result in complications such as miscarriages, premature births, low birth weight, excessive bleeding during delivery, and stillbirths.