The Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) has initiated the process of becoming a tobacco-free city.

Secretary (deputy secretary) Namita Dey, acting in an additional capacity, informed this at a discussion held at the GCC conference room on Monday.

The event, jointly organised by the Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) and GCC, aimed at strengthening tobacco control initiatives, says a press release.

Namita Dey said, “We are attempting to restrict tobacco products through mobile court activities in Gazipur city. The effort to create a city free of tobacco is accelerating in the future.”

She stressed the need to regulate tobacco use through workshops and highlighted the serious consequences of passive smoking, which is more harmful than direct smoking, especially for women and children.

The discussion included plans to issue a proclamation for a tobacco-free GCC and deliberations on budget allocation to strengthen tobacco control measures.

In her keynote address, programme coordinator at DORP Rubina Islam outlined six key proposals in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The proposals include eliminating public smoking areas, banning tobacco product display, banning corporate social responsibility, and restricting e-cigarette and heated tobacco product import, production, and marketing.

The recommendations also include halting open retail sales of tobacco products and increasing the graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging from 50% to 90%.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) Bangladesh programme manager Md Abdus Salam Mia highlighted that six out of eight major non-communicable diseases are caused by tobacco, resulting in 442 deaths daily in Bangladesh.

He urged the government to expedite the approval and implementation of the amended tobacco control law to protect public health.

The meeting was chaired by freedom fighter Md Azhar Ali Talukder, retired secretary and adviser of DORP.