Public Health on Top

British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) has lift the curtain on the 2024 season of its highly controversial talent hunt campaign 'Battle of Minds'. The deadline for registration has already been over. The company has already appointed its representatives in public and private university campuses, each designated as 'Xcelerate Campus Ambassador'. The so-called ambassadors facilitated registration of youths in the talent show and organized campus-based "Battle of Minds Trophy Tours". As a continuation of previous years, the company is taking full advantage of social media platforms to draw the attention of youths to this talent hunt. It may take three or four more months for the competition to reach its grand finale ceremony. While Battle of Minds claims to hunt talented youth workforce for the company and also provide seed fund as award for prospective projects, in reality, the whole charade is nothing but an attempt to promote BATB in social media and university campuses and also to hide the trail of destruction BATB's poisonous products leave in society. It should be noted that tobacco use claims 161,000 lives each year in Bangladesh. BATB, being the largest tobacco company in Bangladesh, must be held accountable for such havoc. To safeguard the youth of Bangladesh, Battle of Minds must be stopped at the earliest.

On the other hand, Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association (BENDSTA) has recently organized a press conference, voicing its opposition against the proposed ban on e-cigarettes and vaping products. BENDSTA claims that the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and other developed countries have been encouraging the use of e-cigarettes and vaping as tools to protect public health. Such a claim is far from the truth. In reality, 34 countries in the world have already banned vaping products. Bangladesh should also follow suit and ban e-cigarettes and vaping by finalizing the draft amendment of the tobacco control law at the earliest.