More than 1.61 lakh people die each year in Bangladesh by tobacco use, revealed a workshop here today. Photo : BSS

DHAKA, Aug 13, 2025 (BSS)- More than 1.61 lakh people die each year in Bangladesh due to tobacco related diseases while over four lakh suffer from disabilities caused by tobacco use, revealed a workshop here today.

The workshop titled “Public Interest vs Tobacco Industry Influence:The Role of Journalists in Accelerating to amend the Tobacco Control Law,” was organized by the Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum in collaboration with the National Heart Foundation.

Professor Dr. Sohel Reza Choudhury, head of the Department of Epidemiology and Research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute presented the keynote paper.

He said tobacco is a major cause of heart disease, cancer, and various respiratory illnesses. He highlighted that nearly 38.4 million adults in Bangladesh are exposed to secondhand smoke daily in public places and on public transport.

“To escape this alarming situation, it is imperative to urgently amend the existing tobacco control law,” he said. 

Rashed Rabbi, president of the Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum in his welcome address said, on an average 442 people die prematurely every day due to tobacco related causes. He stressed the urgency of revising the current law to reduce these preventable deaths.

Naimul Azam Khan, adviser to the Tobacco Control Project of the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, Dr. Aruna Sarkar, Project Coordinator and Mainul Hasan Sohel, General Secretary of the Dhaka Reporters Unity also spoke on the occasion.