Experts and anti-tobacco activists said that the lack of strong and effective law and its weak enforcement are the main obstacles in controlling tobacco consumption in Bangladesh. The existing law should be amended in order to save the common people from the adverse impact of tobacco products, they said.
The existing law gives the opportunity of ingenuity for the tobacco companies, while the law in various points fails to control smoking and use of other tobacco products properly. Amendment to the existing law can be a solution, opined Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin, a lawyer of Dhaka and a researcher on tobacco.
The tobacco control law was introduced in Bangladesh in 2005, and it was amended in 2013 to close various loopholes, but many of the loopholes remain in the updated law. So, it is still a major challenge to ensure a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040 as declared by the prime minister. Against this backdrop, anti-tobacco platforms demand another amendment to the existing tobacco control law.
According to the ‘Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2013’, smoking in the public places is prohibited and smoker in public place will be fined Tk 300. It is difficult to bring someone under this provision as there are complications in realising fine from the violators.
The public places in the law are not defined properly. If anyone smokes in the footpath or road, he won’t come under the law as roads and footpaths are not public places as per the law. ‘But the non-smokers are also adversely affected by anyone’s smoking in open places,’ said former Vice Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Prof Dr Pran Gopal Datta.
Talking to the Bangladesh Post on Saturday (May 29), Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin said that the passive smoking causes severe health harms. Alongside the public places, smoking in the crowded place and the place of public movement have to be banned to save anyone from passive smoking, he added.
The existing law allows smoking in designated smoking zones of public places, while it also allows smoking in restaurants and public transportation that are not confined within four walls. Now, there are many restaurants and coffee shops which are not confined within four walls allowing smoking zones in those places. It increases risks for non-smokers, said Farhana Zaman Liza, program manager of the Tobacco Control & Research Cell (TCRC) of Dhaka International University (DIU).
“The tobacco control law should be amended to shun the loophole and many other loopholes,” she added.
However, if anyone violates the law and smokes at any public place, any individual or the authorities of any public cannot go for legal step in this regard. The law says that only authorised officer will take legal action against smokers in public place.
The law restricts all types of advertisements by tobacco companies, but it does not specify anything about product display at point of sale (POS). So, the tobacco companies continue attracting consumers at the POS.
Moreover, displaying tobacco products at outlets was not prohibited in the law. The law allows corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of tobacco companies, which the companies are using to promote their products indirectly, said Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin.
He also said that the tobacco companies confuse people through various tactics and advertisements due to loopholes in the tobacco control law. The malpractice and tactics of tobacco companies must be stopped for the interest of the people. The existing law can be applied in some points, while amendments to the law are also needed, he added.
The graphic health warning on tobacco packets and containers is now mandatory, but the size of the packaging is not specified. Majority of tobacco companies don’t follow the provision properly, while a large number of smokers buy cigarettes and bidi without any pictorial health warning for the opportunity of collecting cigarettes and bidi in single stick. The sale of single stick of cigarettes is not forbidden in the existing law. "The purpose of the provision in this point is not followed properly. So the sale of single stick of cigarettes should be banned by amending the law, while it is needed to increase the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco products’ packages, said Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin.
The existing law doesn’t address the non-smoking tobacco products, which are also very harmful for public health. On the other hand, there is no provision in the law regarding emerging e-cigarette products.
Dr Rumana Haque, a professor of Department of Economics of Dhaka University who closely works with the National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC), said that strong measures are needed for reducing tobacco use and turning Bangladesh into a tobacco-free country by 2040. She also emphasised specific taxation on tobacco products to reduce tobacco consumption in the country.