Adviser to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Nurjahan Begum on Tuesday emphasised that there is no alternative to the swift passage of the proposed amendment if Bangladesh is to achieve its goal of becoming tobacco-free.

She said this at a seminar held by Development Organisation of the Rural Poor-DORP at CIRDAP auditorium here.

The seminar began with a welcome address by A.H.M. Noman, Founder and Chief Executive of DORP, followed by a keynote presentation by Mohammad Zobair Hasan, Deputy Executive Director of DORP, said a press release.

In his paper, Hasan highlighted six major proposals included in the draft amendment prepared by the Health Services Division in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). These are: eliminating designated smoking areas in public places and transport; banning the display of tobacco products at points of sale; prohibiting corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities by tobacco companies; taking measures to protect children and young people from the harmful effects of e-cigarettes; prohibiting the sale of loose or single sticks of tobacco products; and increasing the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging from 50% to 90%.

The adviser further stated that there is no scope for considering the opinions of tobacco companies in the amendment process.

Speaking as a Special Guest, Md. Akhtaruzzaman, director Gmgeneral of the National Tobacco Control Cell, pointed out that tobacco-related diseases kill 161,000 people in Bangladesh every year—an average of 442 deaths per day—while leaving millions more ill. He criticized the tobacco industry for spreading false claims that the passage of the proposed amendment would result in significant revenue loss for the government. In reality, he explained, the opposite is true: since the Tobacco Control Law was enacted in 2005 and later amended in 2013, government revenue from tobacco has increased more than twelvefold in 18 years, even as tobacco use fell by 18% between 2009 and 2017.

Munshi Alauddin Al Azad, member of the NDC and former secretary, strongly condemned the recent decision by the Advisory Committee reviewing the 2024 draft amendment of the Smoking and Tobacco Products (Control) Ordinance, which suggested that input should be taken from the tobacco industry. 

He said this is a blatant violation of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC, which obliges Bangladesh, as a signatory, to keep the tobacco industry completely out of the policymaking process.