Youths Demand Passage of Amended Tobacco Control Law

Youth advocates call for the passage of the amended Tobacco Control Law through an ordinance. On Saturday (September 28), at the capital's Shewrapara in the office of the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) this demand was voiced during a day-long workshop on "Advocacy with Students for Anti-Tobacco Campaign."

The workshop was facilitated by Abdus Salam Mia, Programs Manager of CTFK Bangladesh. In his speech, he stated, the youth’s demand is for the passage of the amended Tobacco Control Law via an ordinance. Currently, Bangladesh has four types of tax structures for tobacco products, with about 75% of tobacco consumers using low-tier cigarettes. These low-income consumers spend one-fourth of their income on cigarettes.

He pointed out that by increasing the price of low-tier cigarettes, these products would become unaffordable for this 75% consumer base, leading to a reduction in smoking rates.

The organization outlined six key proposals to regulate tobacco products: banning the sale of single cigarettes; prohibiting the display of tobacco products at sales points to curb promotion; banning corporate social responsibility activities by tobacco companies; banning the import, production, use, and marketing of e-cigarettes and emerging heated tobacco products; banning all types of retail and open sales of tobacco products; and increasing the size of graphic health warnings from 50% to 90%.

Throughout the workshop, the organization discussed the current tobacco tax structure, the benefits of increasing tobacco taxes and prices, ways to control tobacco consumption, and the harmful effects of tobacco use. On the fifth day of this seven-day workshop, 25 students from various schools and colleges in Dhaka participated.

Notably since 1987, DORP has been involved in various development initiatives nationwide and is well-known for introducing the maternity allowance program. To date, DORP has implemented numerous projects in 74 upazilas across 30 districts in 5 divisions. As part of its ongoing efforts, DORP is currently focusing on the Tobacco Control Law and advocating for tax and price increases on tobacco products to support the government's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).