On 20 September 2025, Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman of the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), attended as Chief Guest at a national roundtable titled “Tobacco-Free Generation: Citizens’ Views on Strengthening the Law”, held at the CIRDAP Auditorium, Dhaka.
The event, jointly organized by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), underscored the urgency of amending and strengthening Bangladesh’s tobacco control law to align with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and to advance Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3A—specifically, reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third by 2030.
In his address, Dr. Rahman described tobacco as a “multidimensional harm” and emphasized that strengthening the law would stand as a “signature reform” for the government.
Experts at the roundtable highlighted that tobacco remains a major barrier to achieving Bangladesh’s SDG targets, with an estimated 442 people dying every day from tobacco-related causes. The discussion concluded with a strong call for the swift adoption of the proposed amendment to the Tobacco Control Act to safeguard public health and uphold Bangladesh’s international commitments.
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