Professor Dr. Sohel Reza Chowdhury, Head of the Department of Pathology and Research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, has called for amendments to the existing tobacco control law to ban emerging tobacco products such as vaping and e-cigarettes to protect the country’s youth. He made this demand at a workshop titled ‘Tobacco Control for Public Health Protection and Non-communicable Disease Prevention: The Role of Young Doctors’, organized on Saturday at the Bangladesh Cancer Society Hall.
Dr. Sohel Reza Chowdhury said, “E-cigarettes are harmful to the human body. Their use leads to heart attacks, strokes, and lung damage. Realizing the dangers of e-cigarettes, 42 countries have already completely banned them. Recently, Belgium, a European Union member, has decided to ban the sale of disposable vapes starting January next year, primarily due to concerns over attracting children and environmental damage. Therefore, to save the youth of our country, we need to amend the existing tobacco control law to ban emerging tobacco products such as vaping and e-cigarettes.”
The workshop was jointly organized by the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Cancer Society. The existing Smoking and Tobacco Products Use (Control) Act 2005 (amended in 2013) has six weak provisions, according to young doctors. They are demanding immediate amendments to align these provisions with the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Mohammad Ataur Rahman, Advocacy Manager of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Bangladesh, stated, “Tobacco companies promote cigarettes in universities under the guise of job recruitment, through campaigns like the Battle of Minds. They also create designated smoking areas (DSAs) in restaurants, making it easier for young people to become addicted to tobacco products. These harmful tactics of tobacco companies need to be stopped, and social responsibility programs (CSR) and point-of-sale displays of tobacco products should be banned.”
Also present at the event were Sharaf Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, Advisor to the Tobacco Control Program at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, and Policy Advisor Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, along with students from various medical colleges in the country.
The six weak provisions identified in the current law include banning designated smoking areas in public places and public transport, prohibiting the display of tobacco products at sales points, completely banning any form of corporate social responsibility programs by tobacco companies, fully banning e-cigarettes and all emerging tobacco products, increasing the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco product packaging from 50% to 90%, and banning the sale of bidis, cigarettes in retail packs, and unpackaged loose tobacco products.
