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Jasmine Akter
Liberation War Affairs Minister AQM Mozammel Haque MP has called upon the media to expose the harmful aspects of tobacco use to the new generation. He made the call in a keynote address at a seminar on “Expectations from policy makers on timely implementation of tobacco control laws” organized by the Development Organization of the Rural Poor-Drop at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Sunday.
The minister said the law was enacted to control tobacco use considering the harmful aspects of tobacco use. Besides, tobacco and tobacco use (control) rules have been formulated in 2015. We expect that by 2040 we will have a tobacco free country, the Minister added.
The seminar also proposed to amend some sections of the Tobacco Control Act, including a complete ban on smoking in all types of public places and public transport. At the time, the minister said the government had already taken steps to amend some sections to make the law timely. Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Md Maqbool Hossain, Additional Secretary of Health Services and Coordinator of National Tobacco Control Cell Hossain Ali Khondakar, CTFK, Lead Policy Advisor of Bangladesh and former Chairman of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) Mostafizur Rahman, leaders and workers of various organizations were present. In order to protect the smokers in the seminar, the existing tobacco control law should be amended and the designated smoking zone should be abolished. DORP Chairman Md Azhar Ali Talukder presided over the seminar on Tobacco Control Law Strengthening Proposals and Activities.