News Desk

Knowledge for Progress, or PROGGA, and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance, or ATMA, have called on the government to ban designated smoking areas at hotels and restaurants by amending the tobacco control law.

Noting that a smoking-free environment facilitates tourism, the advocacy groups said: “Designated smoking areas [DSAs] at hotels and restaurants prevent authorities from ensuring a totally smoke-free environment for non-smokers. As a person enters or exits, cigarette smoke leaks from smoking zones and makes all patrons, including women and children, inhale secondhand smoke. Hospitality workers also fall victim to passive smoking while providing service.”

A delegation from the research and advocacy organisations made the remarks during a meeting with Civil Aviation and Tourism and Land Advisor AF Hassan Ariff on Thursday.

The advisor expressed his support for the health ministry’s initiative to amend and strengthen the existing tobacco control law during the meeting.

The advocacy groups informed that reducing tobacco use is a key part of the effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third by 2030.

“The high prevalence of tobacco use works as a major impediment to achieving such a goal. Currently, 35.3 percent of all Bangladeshi adults use tobacco products. Tobacco claims nearly 161,000 lives each year in Bangladesh. The financial loss incurred from tobacco-related deaths and diseases is much higher than the revenue earned from the tobacco sector. This has prompted the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare into taking the initiative to amend and strengthen the existing tobacco control law,” they added.