Death Marketing-1

Promotion of e-cigarettes targeting the youth on facebook

The promotion of e-cig items has taken an unprecedented aggressive form in Bangladesh. Particularly the marketing of such items on Facebook and other social media platforms has become a matter of concern. On the occasion of New Year’s Eve, e-cigarette items are being offered with discounts. Other special promotional campaigns are also ongoing which offer e-cig devices as prizes for sharing posts among friends and using promotional hash tags. If the situation persists, it will result in a spike in the use of e-cigarettes among the youth and achieving tobacco-free Bangladesh would become impossible. The prevalence of e-cigarette in Bangladesh is still limited (0.2 percent of adult population). The best of course of action for Bangladesh would be to ban the production, import and marketing of all e-cig items including vaping materials and heated tobacco products.