E-cigarette smokers on rise alarmingly: Study

Staff Reporter :
The tobacco industry applies various tactics to rapidly expand the e-cigarette market to thwart the ‘Tobacco-free Bangladesh’ goal. “Until the first few years of arrival in Bangladesh, some e-cigarette shops were found only in posh areas of Dhaka. Now, e-cigarette shops are available across the country,” according to a study.
The study found only 22pc retail vaping shops have been selling e-cigarettes for over five years. The remaining 78pc of the e-cigarette outlets opened within five years after 2016. This highlights the increase in e-cigarette sales in recent times in Bangladesh.
The study recommends imposing a ban on e-cigarette in the country through national legislation. It also recommends formation of a separate committee or section under the National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC) over e-cigarette.
Ehsanul Haque, a journalist and also Ph.D researcher in Dhaka University, and Syed Saiful Alam, a researcher on tobacco control, carried out the six-month study titled “Bangladesh Tobacco Industry Tactics for Novel Product Expansion’ in 2022.
The study findings were revealed at the dissemination seminar held at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Tuesday, arranged by the Inter Press Network-IPN.
“Although rate of smokers is declining in proportion to the population, the e-cigarette use is increasing and becoming popular among the youth in Bangladesh due to various tactics and promotional activities by the giant tobacco companies,” Ehsanul Haque and Syed Saiful Alam said while presenting the findings of the research.
If the activities of tobacco companies continue in e-cigarette expansion, the goal of making Bangladesh tobacco-free by 2040 won’t be achieved amid a huge increase of vapers. So, e-cigarettes must be stopped soon, said the duo.
Prof. Dr. Arup Ratan Choudhury, founder president of Association For the Prevention of Drug Abuse (MANAS), Dr. Nasir Uddin Ahmed, former chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR), Prof. Dr. Golam Mohiuddin Faruque, project director at Bangladesh Cancer Society, Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Save the Environment Movement, Advocate Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin, an expert on public health, Prof Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder, chairman of Environmental Science department at Stamford University Bangladesh, and Helal Ahmed of Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance (BATA) took part in discussion at the seminar. Md Golam Mowla, executive director of IPN, presided over the event, while Md. Bazlur Rahman, an associate professor at Dhaka International University (DIU); and Hamidul Islam Hillol of BNTTP, also spoke on the occasion.
Dr. Arup Ratan Choudhury said, “Vaping has become gateway to drug addiction. Many youths who come to drug rehabilitation centers first used e-cigarettes, and then became drug addicts”. Dr. Nasir Uddin Ahmed called not to give approval for e-cigarette import in Bangladesh. He demanded immediate amendment to the tobacco control law.
Prof. Dr. Golam Mohiuddin Faruque said that e-cigarette is undoubtedly hazardous for health. It contains dangerous chemicals, causing lung disease, heart disease and some other diseases. The government should ban e-cigarette in Bangladesh before it becomes an epidemic, he added.