To ensure a 100% smoke-free environment by strengthening tobacco control laws, hotel and restaurant owners from the Dhaka Division have demanded the abolition of provisions that allow smoking zones in hotels and restaurants.
This call was made on Sunday afternoon (June 29) during a discussion meeting titled “Steps to Ensure 100% Smoke-Free Hotels and Restaurants for Public Health Protection”, organized by Dhaka Ahsania Mission at the office of the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner. The participants emphasized that there is no alternative to strengthening the law to ensure a healthy environment for non-smokers, including women and children, in hotels and restaurants.
The event was presided over by Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Sharaf Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury. Among the key speakers were Additional Divisional Commissioner Azmal Hossain and along with over a hundred hotel and restaurant owners and representatives from Dhaka. The welcome speech was delivered by Mukhlesur Rahman, Deputy Director of the Health Sector at Dhaka Ahsania Mission.
In the keynote presentation, Shariful Islam, Coordinator of the Tobacco Control Project at Dhaka Ahsania Mission, shared that according to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), 19.2 million people in Bangladesh smoke, and around 40 million non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke. GATS data reveals that 49.7% of people are exposed to secondhand smoke in restaurants. Exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease in non-smokers by up to 85%. He further mentioned that although Section 5 of the existing law prohibits all forms of tobacco advertisement, 73% of restaurants in Dhaka still display promotional materials in their smoking zones.
Speakers at the event highlighted that both direct and secondhand smoking are contributing to the rise in cancer and severe health risks. To protect people from the harms of secondhand smoke, they stressed the need to ban smoking zones in restaurants.
They also pointed out that even when a specific area is designated for smoking, smoke spreads to adjacent areas, putting non-smokers at risk. Therefore, protecting non-smokers from the harms of secondhand smoke is not possible while allowing smoking zones in public places. The speakers strongly advocated for a complete ban on smoking zones in restaurants.
To ensure a healthy environment in hotels and restaurants for public health protection, hotel, and restaurant owners called for the swift passage of the Ministry of Health’s proposed amendment to the tobacco control law, which would strengthen the law and eliminate smoking zones.