Pictorial warnings on packs must by March 19

Pictorial warning on the tobacco pack must be implemented by March 19, Health Minister Mohammad Nasim said yesterday.

Tobacco companies must print the warning pictures showing the malignant effect of tobacco consumption on the upper part of the pack, the minister told the audience while speaking at a discussion, "Implementation of the Pictorial Warning to Prevent the Tobacco Related Death", in the capital's Cirdap auditorium, jointly organised by the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh, United Forum against Tobacco, Progga, and Anti Tobacco Media Alliance with the assistance of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

All should come forward to ensure the implementation of the law, Nasim stressed. But he did not elaborate on what will happen to those who will not comply.  

Once, the law is implemented, Bangladesh will be the 78th country to compel the tobacco companies to use pictorial warning on its pack, speakers said at the event. 

According to the Tobacco Control Law, tobacco companies must use pictorial warning about the harmful effect of using tobacco on the 50 percent area of its pack. 

In 2015, the government extended the time of implementation of the law for one year, which expires on March 19.

Abdul Matin Khasru, former law minister, urged the authorities to stop marketing the tobacco products without pictorial warning after March 19.

Watching the pictorial warning on the tobacco packs, people will be discouraged to consume it, eminent health expert and dentist Dr Arup Ratan Chawdhury told the event. 

According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent global health research centre at the University of Washington, around 1 lakh people die in Bangladesh for consuming tobacco products.