Public Health on Top

There has been a noticeably growing desperation among the tobacco companies to make sure that certain provisions, with regard to a proposed ban on e-cigarette and vaping products, get eliminated from the preliminary draft of TC law amendment. Very recently, a number of interviews and articles, strewn with baseless claims and advocating for harm reduction approach and pro-vaping policy adoption, have surfaced in some of the national dailies of the country. The key figures behind such concerted disinformation campaigns have also been regularly participating in different summits and policy dialogues. The support behind such pro-vaping events comes from Voice of Vapers (official partner of British American Tobacco funded World Vapers' Alliance) and Philip Morris International (PMI) funded Global Action to End Smoking.

A US-based study has revealed that between 2017 and 2018, the prevalence of e-cigarette use among school-goers increased by 78 percent. Bangladesh is a country that relies on the potent energy of the youth. The sole target of the tobacco industry, on the other hand, is to hook the youth into vaping products. However, it is a matter of hope that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has followed the footsteps of 34 other countries, and taken measures necessary to permanently ban e-cigarettes and vaping products.