Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, chairman of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), while presiding over the event said tobacco use prevalence is such a problem that cannot be tackled only by the sole effort of the health ministry. Rather all ministries should make a concerted effort to curb this havoc, he said.

One of the most damning claims made in the report is that the tobacco industry has used the CSR programmes of companies as a pretense to get closer to policymakers, government officials and administration in order to exploit this connection to extract different benefits and to interfere in tobacco control activities.

In addition, the companies have even publicised their CSR activities as much as possible, effectively skirting the ban on tobacco advertising to salvage their corporate image among the public.

The study recommended banning all types of CSR activities of tobacco companies through an amendment of the law.

It has also been recommended to make all relevant ministries aware of the obligation to comply with Article 5.3. Since different ministries are not fully aware of the obligations of the government in tobacco control, tobacco companies find it too easy to confuse these entities.