Members of the anti-tobacco youth society and Ahsania Mission Youth Forum for Health and Wellbeing have called for the swift passage of proposed amendments to the Tobacco Control Act, including a complete ban on e-cigarettes or vaping.
This demand was raised during a youth gathering titled “Demand for Banning E-Cigarettes and Vaping and Immediate Passage of Proposed Tobacco Control Law Amendments”, held in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh, Dhaka, on Thursday morning. Over a hundred students from various universities, including Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University, participated in the event.
The participants emphasized the need to protect young people from the dangers of tobacco use by:
- Eliminating designated smoking areas.
- Prohibiting the display of tobacco products at sales points.
- Banning the sale of single sticks of bidi and cigarettes.
- Completely outlawing e-cigarettes.
- Halting tobacco companies’ CSR activities.
- Increasing health warnings on cigarette packs from 50% to 90%.
They strongly urged the government to pass the amended law promptly to reduce tobacco-related deaths in the country.
The students emphasized the urgency of passing the amended law to reduce tobacco-related deaths. They pointed out that 48% of the country’s population comprises youth, yet alarmingly, 9.2% of them use tobacco. Tobacco companies exploit loopholes in the law to advertise under the guise of product display at sales points, targeting children and adolescents with such advertisements, making them inclined towards tobacco use.
The growing addiction to e-cigarettes among the youth was also discussed, with experts warning about its increasing prevalence and severe health risks. The attendees called for the immediate implementation of long-standing expert recommendations to ban e-cigarettes, which would help protect young people from this harmful addiction.
According to statistics, 39.1% of individuals aged 15 and above in the country are smokers, with 7.5% of children under 15 also using tobacco. Strengthening the Tobacco Control Act is critical to safeguarding this large segment of the population.
The event was presided over by Marjana Muntaha, Coordinator of the Ahsania Mission Youth Forum for Health and Wellbeing, and attended by Mukhlesur Rahman, Deputy Director of the Health and WASH Sector of Dhaka Ahsania Mission, along with other notable guests.
