Prominent citizens in the country believe that the effectiveness of anti-smoking and tobacco laws is gradually getting laxer. They have called upon the government and all concerned to ensure the effective use of this law as well as increase citizen awareness.
They made this call at an anti-tobacco discussion meeting and cultural program organized by 'Amra DhumpanNibaron Kori'-'Adhunik' that held at the National Press Club on Friday, May 1, on the occasion of the World Labour Day. The programme was organized as part the month-long programme of the 'World No Tobacco Day' on May 31.
At the programme, Adhunik president and prominent cardiologist Dr. Hasina Banu said that the effectiveness of anti-smoking and tobacco laws is gradually being relaxed. Earlier, where an average of 100,000 people died every year due to smoking and tobacco products, this number increased to 200,000 in 2025.
He sought sincere cooperation of all concerned in the government, including the Prime Minister, for the proper implementation and implementation of existing anti-smoking laws.
Eminent lawyer Barrister Omar Sadat, also the president of Gulshan Society, said that after he filed a writ petition in 2001 on behalf of the late National Professor Nurul Islam, the founder of Adhunik, the High Court ordered a ban on advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco products in newspapers and media. Following that, the Anti-Smoking Act was enacted in 2003.
As a lawyer and an urban rights activist, he pledged to provide any kind of legal assistance to advance the anti-smoking and anti-tobacco movement.
Jatiya Party Secretary General Barrister Shamim Haider said that if politicians, especially members of parliament, are sincere, this anti-smoking movement will become easier.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Chairperson Mansur Ahmed Chowdhury, cardiologist Professor Dr. Nina Islam, Executive Secretary of Adhunik Mohammad Abdul Jabbar, President of World Cancer Society Bangladesh Dr. Syed Humayun Kabir, Chairman of Kidney Foundation Bangladesh Professor Dr. Harun R. Rashid, Dr. Kaneez Maula, Professor Dr. Harun R. Rashid, Ophthalmologist Dr. Harun Ur Rashid, among others, participated in the discussion.
The speakers said that a large part of the country's population is working class, and the rate of tobacco use among them is relatively high. Therefore, the discussion meeting of 'Adhunik' was organized on Labor Day with the aim of increasing awareness among working class people.
With the theme "Unveiling the Mask of Attraction: Confronting Nicotine and Tobacco Addiction", the function began with the recitation of the Holy Quran and the national anthem. Along with the discussion, poetry recitation and music were also performed.
