It is necessary to amend the current Tobacco Control Law in order to ensure the removal of designated smoking zones from restaurants and realize Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s public declaration to make Bangladesh a tobacco free country by 2040, the Bangladesh Restaurant Owners Association (BROA) has said.
On Monday, a team of Health Sector, Dhaka Ahsania Mission met with BROA Secretary General M Rezaul Karim Sarker Robin and highlighted the need to amend the law, according to a press release.
“It is very important to ensure removal of designated smoking areas in restaurants. Designated smoking areas have to be banned regardless of the number of rooms in the restaurants,” the BROA secretary general said in the release.
“The Government should take necessary steps to amend the law for removing the existing loophole in the TC law which is obstructing the implementation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s public declaration to make Bangladesh a tobacco free country by 2040,” he added.
Media Manager of Tobacco Control Project of Health Sector, Dhaka Ahsania Mission Muhammed Rubayet and Senior Program Officer Sharmeen Rahman were present during the meeting.
Proposals regarding the amendment of the Tobacco Control Law handed over to the BROA secretary general include the banning of smoking zones to ensure public places (restaurants) are completely smoke free, banning of tobacco product displays at points of sale, banning of import, marketing and sales of e-cigarette and other emerging tobacco products, banning the sale of single sticks of bidi-cigarettes or loose cigarettes and banning the sales of Jorda-Gul, banning of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSRs) activities of tobacco companies, increasing the size of the pictorial health warnings from 50% to 90% and introducing plain packaging for all forms of tobacco products.
