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Amend law to end interference of tobacco industry: Experts


Published : 28 Nov 2020 10:16 PM

“Tobacco companies have managed to exploit the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic to the fullest for their benefit. The tobacco companies have particularly used their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) as a pretense to infiltrate into policymaking and administration and extract a variety of benefits”, said a study report.

The report, released on Saturday on a digital platform said while Bangladesh has made progress to some extent in the implementation of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Article 5.3, it is not satisfactory at all, the study report suggests. Bangladesh has scored 68 in the Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2020 meaning that the country is still highly vulnerable to the interference of tobacco industry. 

The study report titled ‘Tobacco Industry Interference Index: FCTC Article 5.3 Implementation Report, Bangladesh’, unveiled through an online zoom webinar, jointly organized by research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA).

Saber HossainChowdhury MP, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Forestry and Climate Change joined the webinar as chief guest.

He said, Tobacco is an essential product but only for causing death, not for life. It cannot be on the list of essential commodities in any way. Rather it is contrary to the fundamental Right to Life enshrined in the Constitution. I have already submitted a Private Member’s Bill to exclude tobacco from the list of Essential Commodities.  

He also added that to provide tobacco companies incentives from Covid 19 stimulus fund is totally unacceptable. 

The Special Guest of the event, Mr. Muhammad RuhulQuddus, former additional secretary of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and former Coordinator of National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) said, the government has recently taken steps to amend the Tobacco Control Act. and MoHFW, besides its own, should undertake awareness raising of non-health sectors, particularly in vulnerable ministries such as Finance Ministry, Industries Ministry, Commerce Ministry and Agriculture Ministry about Article 5.3 obligations so that these ministries become aware of recurring and multi-faceted interferences of tobacco industry especially during the ongoing amendment process of tobacco control law. 

Prof. Dr. AAMS ArefinSiddique, Chairman, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and president of the event said that Covid-19 has pointed it to us how detrimental tobacco use can be. 

Tobacco use prevalence is such a problem which can not be tackled only by the sole effort of MoHFW. All ministries should make a concerted effort to curb this havoc.

The study shows that tobacco industry has used the CSR programs of companies as a pretense to get closer to policymakers, government officials and administration in order to exploit this connection to extract different benefits and to interfere in tobacco control activities. 

In addition, the companies have publicized their CSR activities as much as possible to salvage their corporate image among the public. On 25 September 2019, BAT Bangladesh donated a hefty sum of money to Bangladesh Labor Welfare Foundation. BATB representatives handed the cheque over to State Minister for Labor and Employment. 

The news and pictures of the event were later publicized on the Ministry’s official Facebook page. Liaison with the National Board of Revenues (NBR) has been utilized by the tobacco industry as its conduit to interfere in the formulation of National Tobacco Control Policy. Following the request from Bangladesh Cigarette Manufacturers' Association (BCMA), NBR requested the MoHFW to consider the industry’s opinion before finalizing the National Tobacco Control Policy although WHO FCTC states that under no circumstance shall the tobacco industry be involved in the formulation of tobacco control policies. 

The discussants' panel included Md. Shafiqul Islam, Bangladesh Country Advisor, Vital Strategies; Dr. Syed MahfuzulHuq, National Professional Officer, World Health Organization (WHO); Syed MahbubulAlam, Technical Advisor, the Union; M A Salam, Grants Manager, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK); and ABM Zubair, Executive Director, PROGGA. MortuzaHaiderLiton, Convener of Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), delivered the welcome address. The webinar was attended by representatives of the National Tobacco Control Cell, anti-tobacco organizations and civil society.