Health Advisor Nurjahan Begum made clear that tobacco companies would have no role in shaping the country's anti-tobacco laws, signalling a shift away from a controversial decision made earlier in the year.
On 9 December last year, an advisory committee was formed to review the draft amendment to the Tobacco Control Act in 2005. However, on 13 July this year, the committee decided to meet with tobacco companies and solicit their opinions.
This move led to an outcry from members of civil society, who said such a measure went against the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Speaking as the chief guest at a programme organised by the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor-DORP and the Bangladesh Retired Government Employees Welfare Association on Tuesday morning, the health advisor said that there is no alternative to passing the proposed amendment to the Tobacco Control Law in the shortest possible time.
About the criticism, she said, "There is no scope for taking opinions from tobacco companies. They have no place in the legislative process. The proposed amendment must be passed at the earliest to achieve a tobacco-free Bangladesh."
Speaking as special guest, Director General of the National Tobacco Control Cell Md Akhtaruzzaman said tobacco-related diseases kill 161,000 people in Bangladesh every year, an average of around 442 per day.
He said the tobacco companies claim that the proposed amendment would result in significant revenue loss for the government. But in reality, he explained, the opposite is true.
"Since the Tobacco Control Law was enacted in 2005 and later amended in 2013, government revenue from tobacco has increased more than twelvefold in 18 years, even as tobacco use fell by 18% between 2009 and 2017. This clearly demonstrates that stronger tobacco control does not negatively impact government revenue."
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