Staff Reporter, Dhaka : The students of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology have demanded the speedy passage of the amended draft Tobacco Control Act to protect the youth from e-cigarettes and tobacco addiction. At this time, the university campus was declared free from e-cigarettes and all other tobacco products by the university’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Muhammad Fazli Ilahi.

They made such a demand in the anti-tobacco campaign organized by Ahsania Mission Youth Forum for Health and Well-being on Tuesday, 13 May 2023, afternoon at the university campus.

The youth said in their speech, Bangladesh is the first in the list of countries with the highest tobacco consumption in the world. A significant number of young people in the country use tobacco. A survey has shown that 90 percent of teenage smokers become involved with this harmful substance at the age of 13. According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey, 6.9% of adolescents aged 13-15 in Bangladesh use tobacco, of which 3% are smokers. But due to the easy availability of tobacco products like cigarettes, bidis, jorda, gul, etc., it has been almost impossible to reduce this loss.

In addition, the trend of e-cigarette use among young people has been increasing alarmingly recently. A study in Japan found that e-cigarettes are 10 times more harmful than regular cigarettes.

Meanwhile, the students took part in the campaign with various festoons for the amendment of the Tobacco Control Act to ensure a 100% smoke-free environment, cancellation of smoking zones in public places, ban on e-cigarettes to protect the youth, prohibit the exhibition of tobacco products and ban the single stick sales of bidi-cigarettes. Along with this, they urged all concerned to speedily pass the draft law to strengthen the Tobacco Control Act with the aim of building a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040 as announced by the Honorable Prime Minister.