Country’s anti-tobacco organizations have urged the government to reject offers from tobacco companies to provide Covid-19 vaccine.
They made the call from a virtual discussion organized recently by Progga, an anti-tobacco alliance.
Appreciating the World Health Organization (WHO) for rejecting the multinational tobacco company Phillip Morris’s office of providing the Covid-19 vaccines, the speakers urged the Bangladesh government to follow the suit, said a press release.
They also said that Covid vaccines by Canadian company Medicago was rejected by the WHO on March 2 from inclusion in the list of emergency use due to the company's association with tobacco companies.
Medicago, which has produced the vaccine in collaboration with the Canadian government, is partially owned by Phillip Morris.
With Progga’s Head of Tobacco Control Program Hasan Sharier in the chair, the meeting was also addressed by Mahbubul Alam of The Union, Mustafizur Rahman of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and Dr Golam Mohouddin of Bangladesh Cancer Society.
Representatives from anti-tobacco organizations including TABINAJ, AID Foundation, BNTTP, TCRC, National Heart Foundation, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Voice, MANAS, STOP, and Vital Strategies participated in the virtual discussion meeting.
The discussants said that, in order to combat the Covid outbreak, Canada has already provided Bangladesh with AstraZeneca vaccines which is highly appreciated.
However, this is not the same for Medicago vaccines and such donations should be rejected.
Since this vaccine is not approved by the WHO, and as a signatory of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), accepting this vaccine will be a violation of FCTC Article 5.3 for Bangladesh, said the discussants.
Moreover, in order to battle the Covid-19 pandemic, there should be no negotiation with a company that is behind another pandemic (tobacco), they said.
The WHO has already approved nine vaccines so far that are free from the tobacco industry association, and Bangladesh has been accepting these WHO-approved vaccines.
Bangladesh should also collaborate with international platform Covax in the future to meet its vaccine needs, said the press release.
