Siddheshwari University students rally behind stronger tobacco control measures
NN Online :
University students have raised their voices in support of the swift passage of the proposed amendments to the Tobacco Control Act. On Tuesday (July 15), Nari Maitree and Siddheshwari University organized a day-long signature campaign titled “Demand for the Immediate Passage of the Proposed Amendments to the Tobacco Control Act” at the permanent campus of Siddheshwari University. Over a thousand students signed the petition, showing their firm stance on the issue. The collected signatures will be submitted to the Chief Adviser, according to the organizers.the signature campaign integrated by Saira Begum,the vice principle of the Siddheswari University
During the campaign, the students highlighted the key proposals of the amended law. These include: banning designated smoking areas or “smoking zones” in public places, completely prohibiting the display and advertisement of all tobacco products, enforcing strict legal measures to protect youth from the harmful effects of e-cigarettes, banning corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of tobacco companies, and increasing the graphic health warning on tobacco packaging to 90%.
Mim, a youth advocate of Nari Maitree and a student of Siddheshwari University, said, “Every year, around 38.4 million people suffer from the effects of secondhand smoke, especially women and children. We cannot escape it. Many restaurants still have smoking zones, making it impossible to avoid secondhand smoke. That is why we organized this signature campaign to demand the swift passage of the proposed amendments, including eliminating designated smoking areas.”
Every day, thousands of people in Bangladesh are silently dying from tobacco-related diseases. Nasrin Akter, Project Coordinator at Nari Maitree, said, “Bangladesh ranks highest in South Asia and among the top ten globally in terms of tobacco users. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (2017), around 37.8 million adults in the country use tobacco, and data from the Tobacco Atlas (2018) shows that more than 161,000 people die in Bangladesh every year due to tobacco-related causes.”
Highlighting these alarming facts, the students urged the government to pass the amended tobacco control law promptly to help save more lives.