“Some weaknesses remain in existing tobacco control laws”

There are still some weaknesses in the existing tobacco control laws in the country. To eliminate these, the law needs to be amended in the light of WHO FCTC, said specialists in the concerned sector.

A workshop titled `Tobacco Control Law 'Amendment to Protect Public Health: Role of Media personnel’ was held at the auditorium of National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute on Thursday (March 23).

National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh Secretary General Prof. Khondker Abdul Awal (Rizvi) presided over the meeting and And Dr. Sohel Reza Choudhury, head dept. of Epidemiology and Research at National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, welcomed the attendees.

He said tobacco is linked to six of the eight leading causes of preventable death in the world. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control-FCTC was signed by the World Health Organization in 2003 to prevent this devastating harm of tobacco. The Government of Bangladesh enacted the Smoking and Use of Tobacco Products (Control) Act, 2005 with utmost importance on public health. 2013 brought several important amendments to the Tobacco Control Act. However, the law has several weaknesses. So, the law needs to be amended urgently. Journalists can play a leading role in these sections.

Dr. Sheikh Md. Mahbubus Sobhan, Registrar (Clinical Research), National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute presented the keynote in the meeting. He said use of tobacco products is one of the leading causes of CVD, cancer, chest disease and many other preventable diseases and deaths. Every year more than 1 lakh 61 thousand people die of tobacco related diseases in the country. To protect public health from these harms of tobacco, the Ministry of Health has taken initiatives to strengthen the Tobacco Control Law. He commented that the sooner the law is amended, the more lives will be saved.

Prof. Khondker Abdul Awal (Rizvi) said, National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (NHFB) is working against tobacco. Six weaknesses in the Tobacco Control Act have been identified and call for amendment. The demands are to ban 'designated smoking areas' in all public places and public transport; Prohibition of display of tobacco products in places of sale of tobacco products; Totally ban any form of social responsibility programs by tobacco companies; Ban emerging tobacco products such as e-cigarettes altogether; Increase the size of pictorial health warnings on tobacco product packets/boxes from 50 percent to 90 percent. Prohibition of retail sales of bidi-cigarettes unwrapped and open smokeless tobacco products.

Under the auspices of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, 17 journalists who work for various national media outlets have received the NCD (Non-Communicable Diseases) Media Fellowship Award 2022. Shyamal Dutta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj and general secretary of the Bangladesh National Press Club, appeared as the chief guest and presented the journalists with a crest and certificate.

At this time, he said, Bangladesh has since moved from the list of least developed nations to the group of developing nations. The Tobacco Control Act must be changed by the government to put public health first in order to carry out the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs cannot be achieved in any other case. For this, media professionals can exert significant influence to grab the government's attention.

During this moment Brig Gen (Retd) Prof Md Younusur Rahman, Director at NHFB, Professor Dr. Fazila-Tun-Nesa Malik, Professor of Cardiology & Chief Consultant Cardiologist, Rashed Rabbi, President of the Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum, Ataur Rahman Masud,  manager (advocacy) CTFK were present.