Anti Tobacco Activist

A good news for us. There was a anti tobacco proposal and it is new.

Anti-tobacco activists at a discussion yesterday called on the government to bring changes to Tobacco Control Act and make it mandatory to print pictorial warning on each cigarette stick to discourage smoking.

They said printed health warning on the cigarette packets is not useful for illiterate people.

Save the Environment Movement in cooperation with Pratyasha, an anti-drug club, WBB Trust and Manobik organised the discussion at the National Press Club.

Pointing out a number of loopholes in the Act, lawyer Kanij Kanta said many people consume Sadapata, Zarda and Gul, which causes cancer, but there is no mention of these items in the definition of tobacco products.

She also suggested increasing penalty fee for violation of the Act, repealing article 2 of the Act and raising tax on tobacco products.

Dr Mostafa Zaman of World Health Organisation said, "Tobacco is not an economic crop. Rather, it damages our economy." In 2004, Bangladesh earned Tk 400 crore from tobacco products but spent Tk 5000 crore on treatment for tobacco-related diseases and the gap is widening gradually, he substantiated.

Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub said the National Board of Revenue should take initiative to make the people aware about the effects of tobacco consumption.

Quoting from the latest study, Dr Arup Ratan Chowdhury said, "Smoking is the cause of all diseases and breast cancer is the result of indirect smoking."

Chairman of Save the Environment Movement Abu Naser Khan chaired the programme.