An e-cigarette is essentially a battery-powered device. The liquid inside is heated to produce a vapor that the user inhales, a practice known as “vaping.” Experts say the liquid generally contains nicotine and various other chemicals.
According to e-cigarette traders, the first e-cigarettes were imported into Bangladesh in 2012. The product became widely popular in the years that followed, largely because the vapor appears harmless and has a sweet aroma. E-cigarette importers and sellers also claim the products are safer than conventional cigarettes.
Public health experts disagree. They say most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, the main driver of user addiction.
Professor Sohel Reza Chowdhury, a physician at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, said that in many cases, e-cigarette use can deliver more nicotine than conventional cigarettes because the devices are used repeatedly over long periods. That raises the risk of even higher levels of addiction among users.
Chowdhury said young people and teenagers are easily drawn to these products. Without prompt and effective action, the harmful effects could become far more widespread in the coming days, he warned.
The long-term health effects of e-cigarettes remain unknown, but several recent studies have shown the product is not safe.
The World Health Organization’s global tobacco epidemic report says people who use e-cigarettes are twice as likely to become addicted to conventional cigarettes in the future.
Bangladesh first enacted tobacco-control legislation in 2005, when the BNP government passed the Smoking and Tobacco Products Use (Control) Act. The law restricted indiscriminate advertising of tobacco products and gave the first legal recognition to the harms of smoking.
The law was amended in 2013, making warning labels covering 50 percent of cigarette packets mandatory.
Despite stricter laws, cigarette consumption has not stopped. National Board of Revenue (NBR) VAT department data for fiscal year 2023-24 show smokers pay nearly 38,000 crore taka (about $3.5 billion) a year in duties and taxes on cigarettes.
A letter from the WHO and UNICEF to the Health Ministry also said Bangladesh faces a major tobacco-related health risk. More than 130,000 people die each year from tobacco-related causes, about one-fifth of the national death rate.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report