Rangpur Correspondent :
Anti-tobacco activists at a meeting have stressed on ensuring pictorial warnings on packets of all tobacco products and strict enforcement of tobacco control laws to save many human lives from tobacco catastrophe.
They made the opinion at the views-sharing meeting jointly organised by Tobacco Control Coalition (TCC) and Association for Community Development (ACD) at its Rangpur regional office here on Thursday.
With Focal Person of Rangpur TCC Shushanto Bhowmick in the chair, Project Coordinator of ACD Ehsanul Amin Emon discussed on the pictorial warning situation on packets of the locally produced tobacco products.
The journalist-members of TCC and Anti Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), including Ali Ashraf, Masud Ur Rahman Milu, Zaved Iqbal, Nazrul Islam Mridha, SM Piyal, addressed the meeting, among others.
Ehsanul Amin Emon shared information based on recently conducted survey and monitoring activities by ACD on slower enforcement pace and violation of the tobacco control laws by different tobacco factories and companies in Rangpur region.
He said some tobacco companies and factories have been marketing their tobacco products products like ‘Bidi’, cigarette, ‘Jorda’ and ‘Gul’ without or partially exhibiting mandatory pictorial winnings on packets violating concerned tobacco control laws.
“We observed that the concerned authorities have been conducting mobile courts in inadequate frequencies,” he said adding that smoking in public places and violations of tobacco control laws were still continuing,” he added. The participants laid emphasis on strengthening media reporting on violation of the tobacco control laws unveiling strategies of the tobacco companies and factories and stopping of smoking in public places and transports.
