The Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) demand the government to pass the draft amendment of the tobacco control law in a bid to protect public health from the harmful effects of the tobacco.

They came up with the demand during a meeting held at the BMA Bhaban of the capital on Wednesday.
Chaired by ATMA convener Mortuza Haider Liton, the meeting was addressed among others by ATMA co-convener Mizan Chowdhury, Mehadi Hasan of PROGGA, Md. Mostafizur Rahman of Bangladesh lead policy advisor for campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), and ABM Zubair, Member-Secretary of ATMA.

In the meeting, speakers said health ministry has included several provisions in the draft amendment which will transform the existing tobacco control law into one of the best in the world. 

Some of these proposed provisions are: eliminating Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs), banning the display of tobacco products, outlawing so-called corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of tobacco companies, banning the sale of all sorts of loose tobacco products, banning the production, import, export, storage, promotion, and sale of e-cigarettes and vape products (ENDS), increasing the area allotted for graphic health warning (GHW) to 90 percent from existing 50 percent.

Urging the government to ensure a quick passage of the amendment, the ATMA leader said the longer it takes for the government to pass the amendment, the tobacco-related deaths and losses will rise. 

Additionally, the network urges the policymakers not to get confused by the lies propagated by tobacco companies and some organizations fixated on protecting the interest of the tobacco industry.