Youth march in Dhaka calls for scrapping meeting with tobacco firms and swiftly passing amendment to tobacco control law

An anti-tobacco youth march in Dhaka on Saturday called on the government to ensure the swift passage of a pending draft amendment to the Tobacco Control Act.

The march, which started at the Central Shaheed Minar and ended at Shahbagh, also asked the government to cancel its planned meeting with tobacco companies on the proposed law.

Former Adviser to the Caretaker Government and economist Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman inaugurated the programme and delivered the welcome address.

He said, “The harmful effects of tobacco are scientifically undeniable. I express my solidarity with the young people united here today in their demand to amend the Tobacco Control Act.”

Other speakers at the event said tobacco claims nearly 161,000 lives and causes hundreds of thousands of illnesses like cancer, stroke, heart diseases and disabilities in the country annually.

They also warned that the prevalence of tobacco use among the youth is rising at an alarming pace which poses threat to the future generation of the country, says a press release.

According to media reports, the Advisory Committee reviewing the draft amendment – formally titled the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 – has decided to meet with tobacco companies on the amendment.

The reports said the move would breath Article 5.3 of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organization (WHO).

That article prohibits any involvement of the tobacco industry or its affiliates in drafting laws, rules or policies on tobacco control, the reports noted.

They added that Bangladesh, one of the first countries to sign and ratify the FCTC, is bound to comply with the treaty.

Participants at the march called on the government to revoke the Advisory Committee’s decision to meet with tobacco companies.

They also demanded that the draft amendment, prepared by the health ministry, be passed immediately.

Dhaka Ahsania Mission, DORP, National Heart Foundation, Nari Maitree, PPRC, PROGGA and TABINAJ expressed solidarity with the youth.

Representatives of other anti-tobacco organisations also joined the event.

During the youth march, participants also handed over a list of demands, signed by nearly 10,000 anti-tobacco youths, to the representative of the Office of the Chief Advisor.