Strengthening tobacco control law a must : Agri Minister

Staff Reporter :
Agriculture Minister Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Wednesday said The initiative to strengthen the tobacco control law to curb tobacco use is a timely one.
He said it while meeting a delegation from research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and ATMA (Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance) at the Secretariat.
The meeting was organized to inform the agriculture minister about the progress made by the Health Ministry with regard to the amendment and the potential role the Agriculture Ministry can play in the process. During the meeting the minister said, his ministry stands with full support behind the Health Ministry’s proposals for tobacco control law amendment.
 The discussants of the event included Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Bangladesh Lead Policy Advisor, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), Nadira Kiron and Mizanur Rahman, both co-conveners of ATMA, ABM Zubair, Executive Director, PROGGA and Md. Hasan Shahriar, Program Head, PROGGA.
During the meeting, PROGGA and ATMA informed that currently the prevalence of tobacco use stands at 35.3 percent (37.8 million) of the adult population.