Nari Maitree hosts urgent call for parliamentary action on tobacco ordinance

The approval of the Tobacco Control Ordinance is undoubtedly a major achievement. However, the biggest challenge now is to make it effective as a law. To ensure proper implementation and to prevent the ordinance from remaining only on paper, women professionals from various fields have demanded that it be passed in Parliament and enacted into law during the first session of the upcoming Parliament.

This view was expressed today, Tuesday (3 February), at a sharing meeting titled “Tobacco Control Ordinance 2025 and next steps” with women’s forums, organized by Nari Maitree at the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro in the capital. The meeting was chaired by Shaheen Akhtar Dolly, Executive Director of Nari Maitree. The chief guest was Sheikh Momena Moni, Additional Secretary (World Health Wing) of the Health Services Division. Special guests included Md. Mostafizur Rahman, former Chairman of BCIC.

At the meeting, participants shared that according to the World Health Organization’s Tobacco Atlas 2025, more than 21.3 million adults (aged 15 years and above) in Bangladesh use tobacco. Among them, nearly 200,000 people die every year from tobacco-related diseases—more than 545 deaths per day. On the other hand, tobacco use causes an annual economic loss of approximately BDT 392 billion. Due to this all-encompassing devastation, tobacco can rightly be described as a tobacco epidemic.

In this context, at the latest meeting of the Advisory Council (24 December 2025), the Smoking and Use of Tobacco Products (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, proposed by the Health Services Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, was approved.

Under the approved ordinance, the use, production, and marketing of emerging tobacco products have been banned; nicotine pouches have been included under the definition of “tobacco products”; the use of all forms of tobacco products—alongside smoking—has been prohibited in public places and public transport. At the same time, provisions for designated smoking areas have been made subject to government directives; the definitions and scope of “public place” and “public transport” have been expanded; all forms of advertising, promotion, and display of tobacco products— including at points of sale and through the internet or any other media—have been banned; and the requirement for health warnings on tobacco product packaging has been increased from 50 percent to 75 percent of the surface area.

To ensure effective implementation of this approved ordinance, it is extremely urgent to pass it in Parliament and transform it into law.

In her welcome speech, Shaheen Akhtar Dolly, Executive Director of Nari Maitree, said that the harms of tobacco are not limited to individual health risks; they have severe negative impacts on families, society, and the national economy. Citing data from Tobacco Atlas 2025, she noted that more than 11 percent of women in Bangladesh die from tobacco-related diseases. Every year, nearly 200,000 people die due to tobacco-related causes. Considering this reality, the government has issued the amended Tobacco Control Ordinance. She thanked the interim government for this initiative and expressed hope that effective implementation of the ordinance would help protect future generations from the devastating health risks of tobacco.

In her address as chief guest, Sheikh Momena Moni said that although the government earns around BDT 400 billion annually in revenue from the tobacco sector, losses in this sector exceed BDT 870 billion due to healthcare costs, reduced productivity, and premature deaths. To prevent this enormous loss and loss of life, the interim government approved the Tobacco Control Ordinance, clearly demonstrating its strong commitment to protecting public health. If the next elected government continues this position, there should be no obstacle to passing the law in Parliament. Therefore, political parties participating in the elections must also take a stance in favor of this law.

Md. Mostafizur Rahman said that after the upcoming parliamentary elections, the ordinance must be passed and enacted into law in the very first session of Parliament. To achieve this, widespread public support must be mobilized so that it becomes a public demand. Once it becomes a public demand, the government will not be able to ignore it.

Speakers at the meeting also included Shibani Bhattacharya, Convener of Nari Maitree Mothers’ Forum; Dr. Khaleda Islam, Convener of the Teachers’ Forum; and youth advocates Raisul Islam and Shahreen Ferdous.

They emphasized that collective efforts from people of all professions and social groups are essential to ensure the implementation of the ordinance and its enactment into law.