Dhaka, Bangladesh — The Ministry of Health and Family Wealth in Bangladesh initiated and processed the additional amendments to the Smoking and ‘Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2013’.

The amendments will prohibit the production, importation, exportation, storage, sale and transportation of vapes and their components. The consequences of disobeying the potential law will be strict – the imprisonment of a maximum of 6 months, a fine or both.

The main reason behind the amendments is to achieve the goal of a smoke-free Bangladesh by 2040, the minister claimed.

VoV Bangladesh – a vape advocacy group which recently organised a summit to educate consumers about harm reduction, opposes the ban:

“With VoV Bangladesh, we have been putting tremendous efforts into educating consumers and policymakers about how harm reduction works and why Bangladesh should endorse it. It is upsetting to see that the health authorities in Bangladesh are choosing to fight vaping instead. We call upon health authorities in Bangladesh to reconsider the proposed amendments and avoid public health disaster that will be caused by the prohibitionist approach”, – said Nafis Farhan, the representative of VoV Bangladesh.

World Vapers Alliance joines VoV Bangladesh in opposing the proposed amendments:

“It’s ironic that the health authorities in Bangladesh are not taking into account the failure of the vaping ban in its neighbouring country – India. Rather opposite – they endorse a similar prohibitionist approach, which is already predisposed to fail, cause the emergence of illicit trade and jeopardise millions of lives by pushing Vapers back to smoking. 

The only realistic and pragmatic solution to achieving a smoke-free goal in Bangladesh and globally is through smoking cessation and mainly vaping, which has proven to be 95% less harmful than conventional cigarettes and twice as effective for quitting than other harm reduction methods for smokers.” – said Liza Katsiashvili, WVA’s community manager.

World Vapers’ Alliance calls upon the authorities in Bangladesh to withdraw the proposed amendments and embrace the harm reduction strategies instead.

Governments worldwide must stop putting millions of lives at stake and seek public health improvements through innovative solutions such as vaping.