MCMC, which is an anti-smoking NGO, is concerned that the meeting would hinder the government’s efforts to reduce tobacco consumption within the country.
“Worse, after this was highlighted in certain social media channels, efforts were taken to alter or delete photos pertaining to this, a clear signal of attempting to hide these meetings,” it said in a statement on Tuesday . “It is the clear understanding of all parties involved in tobacco control that the FCTC Unit within the Health Ministry is the only unit whose offices are tasked to have any sort of interaction with the tobacco industry; and that too in an official capacity in terms of regulating tobacco control.
Under the proposed Control of Tobacco Products and Smoking Bill 2022, otherwise known as the tobacco generational end game , children born in 2007 and subsequent years will be prohibited from smoking, buying or possessing any type of smoking product, including electronic cigarettes or vape products, even after reaching the age of 18.