Youths call for quick passage of Tobacco Control Law amendments

Youths on Saturday morning demanded speedy passage of the amendment to the Tobacco Control Act to protect public health. Anti-tobacco students from various universities, Anti-Tobacco Mothers' Forum, Nari Maitree, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Dorp, Progga, Shastho Shurokkha Foundation, Unnayan Shamannay and National Heart Foundation and other anti-tobacco organizations raised this demand at a rally organized at Shahbagh in the capital. At that time, they made 6 proposals for amending the act.

The proposals are - banning 'designated smoking areas' in all public places and public transport, banning the display of tobacco products at points of sale, completely banning any kind of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of tobacco companies, increasing the size of pictorial health warnings on tobacco product packets/boxes from 50 percent to 90 percent, banning the sale of bidi-cigarettes, retail cigarettes, wrapper-free and open smokeless tobacco products, and completely banning all emerging tobacco products including e-cigarettes.

The speakers at the human chain said that according to the Tobacco Atlas 2018, about 161,000 people die prematurely in Bangladesh every year due to tobacco use-related diseases. Accordingly, 442 lives are being lost prematurely every day. Various diseases such as heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, kidney disease and trauma-related diseases are gradually increasing due to tobacco. In addition, women and children are being affected more by secondhand smoke. Women exposed to secondhand smoke face various problems including premature abortion, premature birth of premature babies, low birth weight babies, bleeding during pregnancy, excessive bleeding during childbirth, and stillbirth. To prevent these premature deaths and reduce the health risks to women and children, the amendment to the Tobacco Control Act must be passed now.

Shaheen Akhter Dolly, Executive Director of Nari Maitri, said that while it is important to pass this amended Tobacco Control Act quickly to protect public health, tobacco companies are trying to block it with various lies. Tobacco companies are campaigning that the government's revenue will decrease if the Tobacco Control Act is strengthened, which is not reasonable at all. According to the revenue data of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), when the Tobacco Control Act was passed in Bangladesh in 2005, the revenue from tobacco was Tk 2,888 crore that year. In the next fiscal year 2005-06, the revenue collected was Tk 3,351 crore. In 2013, when the law was amended, the government's revenue from tobacco was Tk 10,170 crore. In the fiscal year 2013-14, it increased to Tk 12,556 crore. In the fiscal year 2022-23, the revenue collected from the tobacco sector was Tk 32,823 crore.

Rather, the companies spend about Tk 8,000 crore more on the treatment of various tobacco-related diseases than the amount of revenue they generate annually. Ignoring this reality, tobacco companies are creating obstacles in amending the law just to make profits.

Applauding the organization of this human chain by the youth, Abdus Salam Mia, Program Manager of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK), said that various propaganda campaigns by tobacco companies are doubling the addiction of youth to smoking. According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, the rate of teenagers addicted to smoking is highest in India, Indonesia and Bangladesh among the 13 to 15 years old. About 12 percent of teenagers in Bangladesh are addicted to smoking regularly. The youth are the shield against all injustices. Therefore, he called on the youth to speak out against all the tricks of tobacco companies to protect the future generation.