Anti-tobacco activists have expressed outrage that advertising and promotion activities of the tobacco companies are continuing during coronavirus crisis.
They expressed their displeasure at a webinar titled ‘Implementation of Tobacco Control Act at Local Level’. The meeting was jointly organized by the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance and the WBB Trust on Saturday.
The speakers said that the government has been working tirelessly to formulate policies to control tobacco use. While these measures are promising, tobacco companies continue to aggressively violate the law in expanding the market for harmful products.
Specific information on tobacco company violations needs to be presented to the Local Administration and Tobacco Control Implementation Task Force Committees, as well as expedited tobacco control. This will give impetus to the implementation of the law and of Prime Minister's 'Tobacco Free Bangladesh'.
Coordinator (Joint Secretary) of National Tobacco Control Cell Khairul Alam Sheikh was guest at the meeting. Saifuddin Ahmed, coordinator of the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance, and the union's technical adviser Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam among others led the discussion.
Programme Manager Syeda Ananya Rahman presented the report at the meeting conducted by Sharmin Akter, Project Officer, WBB Trust.
Saifuddin Ahmed, coordinator of the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance, said tobacco companies were becoming more aggressive than ever. Therefore, at the local level, other organizations outside the alliance, including the allied organizations, need to be more active. NTCC's specific guidance and support will be helpful in this regard.
The meeting called upon the National Tobacco Control Cell to take initiatives to punish the companies violating the law by conducting mobile courts across the country on tobacco control, regularizing the meetings of the task force committee and reversing the decision of the Ministry of Industry to keep tobacco companies open during the coronavirus crisis.
