Public Health on Top

An organization named Law and Life Foundation Trust has recently sent legal notices to three key ministries of the government, urging the offices to take action to ban e-cigarettes and vaping products. However, anti-tobacco organizations are suspicious of this move. The reason behind such suspicion is that the government has already taken the initiative to amend and strengthen the tobacco control law which bans production, import and sale of e-cigarettes, vaping, heated tobacco products and other similar products. After going through all necessary steps, the draft amendment is now awaiting the final approval at the Cabinet Division. Steps such as sending legal notices to ban e-cigarettes and vaping in such a favorable environment is devoid of any logic. It should be noted that the aforementioned organization has no previous record of engaging in anti-tobacco activities. While its move may appear as a welcome move that oppose emerging tobacco products, anti-tobacco organizations assume that this can also be an ill tactic employed by the tobacco industry. Similar move was seen during the previous amendment of tobacco control law where a front organization of tobacco companies took such legal action.
In a recent report, Market Watch claimed that e-cigarette and vaping can help Bangladesh reduce smoking-related deaths. The two individuals associated with the study reported in Market Watch also organized a summit and roundtable meeting in May 2023, with funded by Philip Morris supported Foundation for a Smoke-free World (FSFW).
It should be noted that tobacco companies have been using ill tactics and interfering in the draft amendment to eliminate sections that ban e-cigarettes and vaping from the draft amendment proposal of the tobacco control law. We hope, the government will not succumb to the disinformation campaign of tobacco companies and finalize the draft amendment at the earliest.