Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim said the health development surcharge management policy would be finalized very soon aiming to curb the consumption of tobacco and tobacco products.
“Funds collected as surcharge will be used for controlling consumption of tobacco and tobacco products,” he told a roundtable on “Finalization of the health development surcharge management policy and the National tobacco control policy: Progress and doings” in city.
The daily Samakal and the PROGGA, a non-government organization, organized the roundtable at the daily Samakal office.
State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan, Lawmaker Advocate Fazilatunesa Bappi, officials and representatives of different organizations, among others, addressed the meeting with Managing Editor of the Daily Samakal Abu Sayeed Khokan in the chair.
Nasim said the government is working to make a tobacco-free country by 2040 for building a healthy nation.
According to a study in 2004 conducted by WHO, each year tobacco kills six million people worldwide and the death toll is likely to reach eight million a year if the current trend continues.
In Bangladesh, at least 57,000 people die each year from eight tobacco-related diseases. The rate of tobacco use in Bangladesh is one of the highest in the world.
