State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr M A Muhit on Sunday said initiatives will be taken to place the Tobacco Control Ordinance in the first session of parliament in order to enact it into law.
He made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion held at the CIRDAP International Conference Centre in the capital marking ‘International Women’s Day’.
MP Tahsina Rushdir (Sylhet-2), Additional Secretary of the World Health Wing Sheikh Momena Moni, and former Director of the Directorate General of Health Services Prof Dr Shah Ali Akbar Ashrafi attended the programme as special guests.
Dr Muhit said the approved ordinance is an important step towards protecting public health and expressed hope that it would be passed in parliament soon.
“The approved Tobacco Control Ordinance is a significant step towards protecting public health. I am hopeful that it will be passed in the first session of parliament and enacted into law,” he said.
The discussion highlighted that, according to the Tobacco Atlas 2025 of the World Health Organization, around 21.3 million people aged 15 years and above in Bangladesh use tobacco. Each year nearly 200,000 people die from tobacco-related diseases, averaging around 546 deaths every day.
Participants also noted that tobacco-related illnesses cause an economic loss of about Tk87,000 crore annually in Bangladesh.
The Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, proposed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, was approved at an advisory council meeting on December 24, 2025.
The ordinance includes provisions to ban the use of all types of tobacco products in public places and public transport, prohibit advertisements and promotions of tobacco products, ban sales within 100 metres of educational institutions, and increase pictorial health warnings on tobacco packaging from 50 percent to 75 percent.
Speaking at the event, Tahsina Rushdir said the impact of tobacco goes beyond individual health risks and affects families, society and the national economy.
Citing the Tobacco Atlas 2025, she said more than 11 percent of women’s deaths in Bangladesh are linked to tobacco-related diseases, adding that turning the ordinance into law would help protect future generations.
Sheikh Momena Moni said although the government earns about Tk40,000 crore annually from tobacco-related revenue, the overall economic loss caused by healthcare costs, productivity loss and premature deaths exceeds Tk87,000 crore.
Prof Shah Ali Akbar Ashrafi said approval of the tobacco control ordinance by the previous interim government was a positive step, adding that the responsibility now lies with the newly elected government to enact it into law.
The meeting was chaired by Shaheen Akhter Dolly, executive director of Nari Maitree.
Representatives from various civil society groups, including the Anti-Tobacco Mothers’ Forum, Teachers’ Forum, Journalists’ Forum and Youth Forum, also attended the programme and demanded that the ordinance be enacted into law in the first session of parliament.
