NGO News Archives - TheStatement24

May242026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Health Ministry’s Role in Strengthening Tobacco Control Law Highly Commendable

A delegation from the research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) met with Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Husain, MP. During the meeting, the organizations presented a letter of appreciation to the Minister for his pivotal role in protecting public health and fostering a tobacco-free generation through the passage of the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2026. The meeting took place today, Sunday (24 May), at the Health Minister's office in the Secretariat. At the meeting, the Health Minister said, "The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is committed to taking all necessary initiatives for tobacco control to protect public health. The Health Ministry has already sent a ...

May242026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Universal Birth-Death Registration Accelerates SDGs

Breaking News, NGO News

Ensuring universal birth and death registration is critical for safeguarding citizen rights and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the current registration rate in Bangladesh remains very low, primarily due to legal and implementation gaps. Experts highlighted these issues today, Saturday (May 23), at a webinar titled "Strong Registration System for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: Bangladesh Perspective," organized by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) with support from the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI). The webinar noted that SDG Target 16.9 prioritizes providing legal identity for all, including birth registration. Registration is also mandatory to access benefits from government social safety net programs, which aligns with SDG Target 1.3. Furt...

May222026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Workshop on Safeguarding Policy Held to Enhance Staff Capacity

Breaking News, NGO News

With the aim of maintaining the highest standards in daily operations in line with the organizational policies, mission, vision, and values, Dhaka Ahsania Mission has been regularly organizing capacity-building trainings and workshops for its staff. Under the initiative of the Health Sector of Dhaka Ahsania Mission, a workshop titled “Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Child Protection Policy” was held on Thursday (21 May 2026), with the participation of colleagues from different institutes and projects under the Health Sector. The day-long workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Mokhlesur Rahman, Deputy Director of the Health Sector of Dhaka Ahsania Mission. He stated, “Dhaka Ahsania Mission is committed to ensuring a safe and respectful working environment w...

May212026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Effective Tobacco Tax and Price Increase Demanded in the Upcoming National Budget

Breaking News, NGO News

A discussion meeting organized by Development Organisation of the Rural Poor (DORP) was held on Thursday, 21 May 2026, at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka, demanding effective taxation and price increases on all tobacco products in the upcoming national budget for FY 2026–27 to protect public health. The keynote paper presented at the event stated that Bangladesh currently has a four-tier cigarette pricing structure—low, medium, high, and premium. Around 90 percent of cigarettes sold in the market belong to the low and medium tiers, making tobacco products highly affordable and easily accessible, especially to young people and low-income populations. As a result, tobacco control efforts are becoming ineffective among these groups. The paper proposed merging the low and medium ti...

May202026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Call for Effective Tobacco Price Hike to Discourage Youth Tobacco Initiation: Sandhani

Breaking News, NGO News

Sandhani, the Independence Award-winning student organization, has called for an effective increase in tobacco prices in the upcoming FY 2026–27 national budget to discourage tobacco use among young people. The organization proposed merging the low and medium cigarette tiers and setting the retail price of a 10-stick cigarette pack at BDT 100, along with a specific supplementary duty of BDT 4 per pack. It also recommended setting the prices of high-tier and premium-tier cigarette packs at BDT 150 and BDT 200 respectively. The demands were presented at a press conference titled Effective Increase in Tobacco Prices to Discourage Youth Tobacco Initiation: Sandhani’s Budget Proposals for FY 2026–27, held today at the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club. The press conf...

May202026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Effective Tobacco Taxation Needed to Protect Public Health: Water Resources Minister

Breaking News, NGO News

Minister for Water Resources Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie has stated that, effective taxation on tobacco products is necessary in the upcoming national budget for the fiscal year 2026–27 to protect public health. Referring to the BNP’s electoral commitment to controlling non-communicable diseases caused by tobacco use, he further said that the government remains committed to this goal. He added that the issue of increasing taxes and prices on tobacco products to build a healthy, safe, and tobacco-free Bangladesh would be raised at the national parliament and relevant policymaking levels. He made these remarks as the chief guest at a seminar titled “Need for Effective Tax and Price Increases on Tobacco Products to Control Tobacco-Induced Non-Communicable Diseases for Protecting Public...

May172026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Youth Demand Easy-to-Understand Food Labeling on Packaged Foods

Breaking News, NGO News

Young people have called for ensuring easy-to-understand labeling on packaged food products as part of implementing Front-of-Pack Labeling (FOPL) policy in Bangladesh to promote healthy eating habits. The demand was raised during a day-long workshop titled “Empowering Future Youth: Healthy Eating Habits, Understanding Packaged Food Labeling and Supporting FOPL Policy” held on Sunday (May 17, 2026) in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. The workshop was organized by Dhaka Ahsania Mission with technical support from Global Health Advocacy Incubator. Speakers at the event highlighted the importance of introducing Front-of-Pack Labeling (FOPL) in Bangladesh and ensuring simple and understandable nutrition information on packaged food products. They noted that around 54 countries worldwide have introduced ...

May152026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Demand for cigarette tier reduction and effective taxation

Breaking News, NGO News

Public health advocates and experts have called on the government to reduce the number of cigarette price tiers, introduce a specific tax system, and impose effective taxation on all tobacco products in the national budget for fiscal year 2026–27 to curb tobacco use and increase government revenue. The demand was raised at a press conference titled “Demand for Taxation and Price Increase on Tobacco Products in the Upcoming FY2026–27 Budget for Public Health Protection”, organized by Dhaka Ahsania Mission at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Thursday. Speakers at the event said that reforming the tobacco tax structure would reduce smoking prevalence, prevent premature deaths, and generate significant additional revenue for the government. Under the proposed reforms, the existing four-ti...

May92026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Young Doctors Urge Higher Tobacco Prices to Discourage Youth Smoking

Breaking News, NGO News

Young doctors have demanded an effective increase in tobacco product prices in the upcoming FY2026–27 national budget to discourage tobacco use among young people and protect the country’s large youth population from the harmful effects of tobacco. The demand was raised during a human chain titled “Effective Tobacco Price Increase in the FY2026–27 Budget to Discourage Youth Tobacco Use,” organized by National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Saturday (May 9). According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), around 25–28 percent of the country’s population belongs to the youth demographic. Speakers at the program said protecting this large segment of the population from tobacco addiction is essential for safeguarding the country’s futur...

Apr302026 by Statement DeskNo Comments

Demand for Effective Taxation on Tobacco Products in the Upcoming Budget

Breaking News, NGO News

To safeguard public health, the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) has called for the implementation of a strong tax policy, including effective taxation and price increases on tobacco products in the upcoming 2026–27 national budget. This demand was raised during a discussion meeting titled “The Importance of Effective Tobacco Taxation in the Upcoming 2026–27 National Budget,” jointly organized by Dhaka Ahsania Mission and BSRF at the CIRDAP auditorium on Thursday (30 April 2026). The chief guest at the event, Additional Secretary of the Health Services Division (World Health Wing), Sheikh Momina Moni, stated that the easy availability of tobacco products in Bangladesh is significantly increasing smoking rates among youth and low-income populations, posing a serious threat t...