Public Health on Top

Tobacco companies have already launched a concerted campaign using a number of puppet organizations to mislead policymakers regarding the initiative to eliminate designated smoking areas (DSAs), as included in the draft amendment proposal of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). The Intellectual Property Association of Bangladesh (IPAB) and the National Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB) are two such organizations that are spreading lies and baseless claims trying to misguide the policymakers. Besides, British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) has recently sent a letter to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) where it claimed that eliminating DSAs would threaten the tobacco industry as a whole.

A recent study conducted by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) recommends the elimination of the provision of DSAs on the ground that it cannot protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke, and it is not possible to reap benefits from any smoke-free regulation while allowing DSAs. A separate study also shows how tobacco companies often provide restaurants with equipment and cash incentives to set up DSAs. Loopholes in tobacco control law have made such ill tactics possible.

A comprehensive smoke-free law helps in improving public health. A total of 67 countries, including Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, Turkey, and the UK has adopted and implemented comprehensive smoke-free law (by eliminating any provision of DSAs). We hope, the govt. will eliminate DSAs and finalize the amendment proposal at the earliest.