Staff Reporter:
Speakers at an event yesterday emphasized the need for strengthening tobacco control law.
Development Organization of the Rural Poor on Friday hosted a sharing session in collaboration with Television Reporters’ Association Bangladesh (TRAB).
The event, held at Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the National Museum was presided over by noted author and Bangla Academy Chairperson Selina Hossain.
Bangladesh Press Council Chairman Justice Md Nijamul Haque Nasim was present as the chief guest.
To strengthen the existing tobacco control laws and make them compatible with the Framework Conven-tion on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the draft proposed by the Ministry of Health includes six key pro-posals.
They are— ban on designated smoking areas in all public places and public transport for the protection of non-smokers, ban the promotion of tobacco products at the point of sale, ban the corporate social re-sponsibility activities of tobacco companies, ban the import, manufacture, use, and marketing of e-cigarettes or emerging heated tobacco products, ban loose selling of tobacco products and increase graphical health warning size from 50% to 90%.
In the session, Rubina Islam, Program Coordinator, DORP, elaborated on the prevalence of tobacco in Bangladesh and its negative impact as a threat to public health.
DORP has been involved in various development programs since 1987.
In line with this, DORP is currently working on tobacco control law and increasing tobacco taxes and implementing various projects to achieve the government’s sustainable development goals.
