To protect the younger generation, Ahsania Mission Youth Forum for Health and Wellbeing has demanded that the amended Tobacco Control Ordinance 2025 be passed into Act in the upcoming 13th National Parliament.
The demand was raised at a rally titled “Pass the Tobacco Control Ordinance 2025 into act in the Upcoming 13th National Parliament to Protect the Young Generation”, held on Tuesday (03 February 2026) infront of the Dhaka Ahsania Mission office in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. Students from Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, ULAB, East West University, AIUB, Southeast University, Bangladesh University, Jagannath University, and several other universities participated in the program.
In Bangladesh, 39.1 percent of people aged 15 years and above are smokers, while 7.5 percent of children below that age smoke. To protect this large population, it is essential to transform the Tobacco Control Ordinance 2025 into law.
Youth speakers at the event stated that tobacco use is one of the leading risk factors for cancer and other non-communicable diseases. Every year, nearly 200,000 people in Bangladesh die prematurely due to tobacco-related diseases. In this context, to make the existing law more effective, the amended ordinance includes provisions such as the removal of smoking zones, a ban on smoking in all public places and public transport, prohibition of heated tobacco products (HTPs) and other emerging tobacco products, and for the first time, the inclusion of nicotine pouches under the definition of tobacco products. If passed in the upcoming parliament, this ordinance will protect all segments of the population, including youth, from the harms of tobacco.
Speakers further noted that nearly 48 percent of the country’s population is youth, and 9.2 percent of them use tobacco. If the ordinance is enacted, tobacco use among young people and tobacco-related premature deaths will decline. At the same time, government expenditure on healthcare will be reduced, and environmental damage will also decrease.
The speakers also described initiatives such as banning tobacco advertising and display, and the inclusion of 75 percent pictorial health warnings on tobacco packaging, as reflections of the government’s strong commitment to protecting public health.
At the event, youth leaders urged the post-election government to prioritize public health and future generations by swiftly passing the ordinance into law, and also called for the full implementation of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
