Govt to amend Tobacco Control Act soon: Professor Sayedur Rahman

Professor Dr Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser for Health and Family Welfare Ministry, has said that the government will take immediate action to amend the Tobacco Control Act with an aim to protect public health.

He revealed the information while addressing a views-exchange meeting, titled “Tobacco Control Ordinance 2025 for the Protection of Youth: Importance and Necessity”, organised by Nari Maitree at Biswa Sahitya Kendra in the capital at 11am on Monday (February 24).

He said, “The process of issuing the Tobacco Control Ordinance is ongoing. If the country’s youth remain healthy, the country will also run smoothly.”

Presided over by Executive Director of Nari Maitri Shaheen Akhter Dolly, the meeting was also attended by Sheikh Momena Moni, additional secretary of Global Health Division under the health ministry.

Md Mostafizur Rahman, former chairman of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, and Professor Dr Golam Mohiuddin Faruk, oncologist and also president of Bangladesh Cancer Society, among others, addressed the meeting. Nari Maitri Project Coordinator Nasrin Akhter presented the keynote in the meeting. Nasrin Akhter said, “Some 442 people die every day due to tobacco-related diseases in Bangladesh. To stop this procession of deaths, it is very important to quickly amend the Tobacco Control Act.”

“The health ministry has proposed several amendments to the Act in the light of the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),” she added.

Mentionable, six notable amendments proposed by the health ministry are: abolishing designated smoking areas in public places; banning the display of tobacco products; banning the sale of lose bidi-cigarettes; completely banning tobacco companies from participating in corporate social responsibility activities; increasing the size of pictorial health warnings from 50 to 90 percent; and taking strict legal measures to protect young people from the harmful effects of e-cigarettes.

Speakers in the discussion said tobacco companies are falsely promoting that the government will lose a huge amount of revenue if the proposed amendment to the Tobacco Control Act is passed. However, the reality is completely different. After the enactment of the Tobacco Control Act in 2005 and its amendment in 2013, the government's revenue has increased 12.5 times in the last 18 years. At the same time, tobacco use has decreased by 18% between 2009 and 2017.

They said tobacco companies are spreading misleading information that 15 lakh retailers involved in the tobacco sector will lose their jobs if the proposed amendment to the Tobacco Control Act is passed. But according to the Wholesale and Retail Business Survey 2021 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the total number of retail establishments in the country is 15,39,000, of which the number of shops selling food, beverages and tobacco products is only 1,96,341. Moreover, these shops usually sell tobacco products along with other products, so if the amendment is passed, there will be no significant impact on their employment.

Momena Moni said that they will present today's discussion at the review meeting of the Executive Committee of the Ministry of Health and she assured that she will inform the relevant authorities to take appropriate steps to pass the amendment to the Tobacco Control Act quickly.

At the meeting, Ashrafiah Jannat, convener of the Anti-Tobacco Youth Forum, said, "Every day 442 people are losing their lives in the country due to tobacco related diseases, yet our society is still silent. It is our right to grow up in a healthy and safe environment. Therefore, give us a beautiful and healthy society by amending the Tobacco Control Act quickly."

At the meeting, members of the Anti-Tobacco Mothers' Forum, Teachers' Forum, Girls' Guide Rangers and Red Crescent also strongly demanded the speedy passage of the Tobacco Control Amendment Ordinance 2025.

The speakers hope that the people-friendly government will pass the amendment to the law quickly, considering public health above all else.