Prioritize public health above everything else

City Desk :
The foremost impediment to a tobacco-free Bangladesh is the incessant interference of the tobacco industry in the policymaking of the country.

The current state manifests itself in the “Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2023” where Bangladesh scores 72, the worst such score among its South Asian peers, reads a press release issued on Sunday, reports media.

As per the study findings, most of the industry interference occurred on the issue of the amendment of tobacco control law. While three years have passed, the government has yet to pass the draft amendment of Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Act 2013.

Experts made the comments during a webinar titled “Tobacco Industry Interference Index: Report on the Implementation of FCTC Article 5.3”, organized jointly by research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA).

The chief guest of the event, Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP, the prime minister’s special envoy for climate change, said: “The directive for strengthening our tobacco control law came from the prime minister.

I can’t help but wonder why it is taking so much time despite the PM’s support behind the initiative.

We often take pride in our achievements in the health sector.

Then why are we failing to take meaningful action when tobacco is taking hundreds of thousands of lives every year?
“We must prioritize public health above everything else,” he added.

In his speech as the chair of the event, a distinguished economist and the convener of the National Anti-Tobacco Platform, Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said: “The government must divest its share in tobacco companies.

Tobacco companies should also be declared ineligible for all sorts of accolades. CSR programs of the tobacco industry must also be banned.

We have been raising such demands for quite a few years but to no avail.

May be there will be a time when our policymakers and govt. offices will indeed pay heed to what we have to say.”