Speakers at a human chain programme demanded immediate completion of the amendment to the tobacco control law for the overall benefit of the public health and environment.
The human chain, carrying symbolic corpses, was formed in front of the Jatiya Press Club jointly organised by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), Anti-tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), ‘Pratyasha’ anti-drug’s club, and Dhumpan Mador Durniti Birodhi Foundation.
The organisers also submitted a memorandum to the Health Services Division Secretary after the programme.
In a brief address to the programme, speakers said tobacco-related illnesses claim around 161,000 lives each year in Bangladesh.
“The longer the policymakers delay in finalizing the tobacco law, the larger trail of tobacco-related deaths grows,” they said.
The speakers said the Health Ministry has recently taken an initiative to amend and strengthen the existing tobacco control law.
“The necessary stages of preparing the draft proposal, releasing the draft on the website and collecting opinions from stakeholders have already been completed. Unfortunately, the tobacco companies have launched a campaign of lies and rumours to hamper this initiative,” they observed.
Representatives from Shastho Surokkha Foundation, TCRC, DORP, National Heart Foundation, NATAB, Dhumpan Madok Durniti Birodhi Foundation, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, and many other anti-tobacco organizations participated in the event.
The prevalence of tobacco use now stands at 35.3 percent of the adult population (37.8 million) in Bangladesh while the tobacco-induced deaths and diseases alone cost the economy of Bangladesh around TK 305.6 billion a year, an amount that is much higher than the revenue generated from this sector.
In 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina voiced her commitment to building a tobacco-free country by 2040 recognizing the extent of tobacco’s devastation.
She also gave directives to amend the tobacco control law in line with Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
Source: United News of Bangladesh