Public health professionals, economists, and anti-tobacco advocates have warned that Bangladesh's chances of meeting key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are slipping away, unless immediate action is taken to strengthen the country’s tobacco control legislation.
The alarm was sounded on 24 April at a roundtable discussion titled “Strengthening of Tobacco Control Law to Safeguard Public Health and Achieving SDGs: Bangladesh Perspective”, held at the CIRDAP Auditorium in Dhaka. The event was jointly organised by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA).
Tobacco remains a leading cause of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), claiming nearly 442 lives every day in Bangladesh. Experts stressed that without robust legal intervention, achieving SDG Target 3.4—reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one third—would remain an impossible goal.
Speakers highlighted that the SDGs, adopted in 2015, require countries to fully implement the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), to which Bangladesh is among the earliest signatories. They warned that the tobacco epidemic undermines not only SDG-3 (Good Health and Well-being), but also other critical goals, including poverty alleviation and food security.
Findings presented at the event revealed that tobacco-consuming households spend 5 percent of their income on tobacco and a further 10 percent on treating tobacco-related diseases. Nationally, treatment of such illnesses drains nearly BDT 30,500 crore annually from the economy. Tobacco cultivation—now consuming over 100,000 acres of arable land—is also threatening food security, while curing tobacco contributes to about 30 percent of national deforestation. Additionally, environmental damage from plastic packaging and child labour in bidi production were cited as further violations of development principles.
Rasheda K. Choudhury, former adviser to the Caretaker Government and Executive Director of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), stressed the need for a completely smoke-free environment to protect non-smokers, especially women and children.
Dr Abu Jamil Faisel, President-elect of the Public Health Association, reiterated that tobacco is a key contributor to cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other NCDs, and that without stronger legal safeguards, SDG targets would remain elusive.
Dr Mahfuz Kabir of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies dismissed tobacco companies' claims that legal reform would shrink state revenue, citing National Board of Revenue data. He called for a long-term plan to reduce reliance on tobacco revenues.
Echoing the call for reform, Dr Syed Abdul Hamid of Dhaka University’s Institute of Health Economics said the proposed legal amendments would benefit both public health and national welfare. Dr Abdun Noor Tushar, physician and media figure, emphasised preventive action over reactive treatment, while Dr Anupam Hossain warned of the rising popularity of e-cigarettes among youth, calling for their inclusion in the proposed legal ban.
Zahirul Alam, Head of News at NTV, commended the role of the media in advancing tobacco control and urged continued advocacy to ensure legislative reform.
Also present were Mortuza Haider Liton of ATMA, ABM Zubair of PROGGA, and other anti-tobacco activists. Members of youth group 'Pratyasha' held placards in support of the amendment.
Nadira Kiron of ATMA moderated the session, while Hasan Shariar, PROGGA’s Head of Tobacco Control, presented the keynote.
At present, 35.3 percent of adults in Bangladesh use tobacco products. In 2021, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare initiated a process to revise the tobacco control law. The preliminary draft proposes banning designated smoking areas, point-of-sale displays, corporate social responsibility programmes by tobacco companies, loose sales of tobacco products, and the production, import, and marketing of e-cigarettes, vapes, and heated tobacco products.
Experts at the roundtable stressed that only swift and decisive legal reform can break the country's deadly dependence on tobacco and put Bangladesh back on track to meet its development commitments.
