The Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum (HRF) has declared that no form of opinion from tobacco companies is acceptable in the process of amending the Tobacco Control Act.
According to the forum, such a move is a direct violation of Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and poses a severe threat to public health, according to a statement.
The organization has therefore demanded that the government immediately withdraw its decision to seek tobacco company opinions under the guise of stakeholder meetings.
The demands were raised on Wednesday at a workshop titled "Public Interest vs. Tobacco Industry Influence: The Role of Journalists in Expediting Tobacco Control Law Amendment", organized by the Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum with the support of the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh.
Rashed Rabbi, president of the Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum, delivered the welcome address, while the keynote presentation was made by Prof. Dr. Sohel Reza Choudhury, head of the Department of Epidemiology and Research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute.
The workshop was also attended by Naimul Azam Khan, Advisor to the Tobacco Control Project of the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute; Dr. Aruna Sarkar, Project Coordinator; Senior Communications Officer Abu Jafor; and Mainul Hasan Sohel, General Secretary of the Dhaka Reporters Unity, along with representatives from various media outlets.