STAFF CORRESPONDENT

The health ministry has directed all field-level health administrations to ensure that tobacco products are not sold within a 100-metre radius of health facilities.

It also asked them to keep all hospitals, clinics, health centres and adjoining areas tobacco-free in line with the anti-tobacco law, which was recently made stricter.

The ministry sent a letter in this regard to all directors and superintendents of hospitals, civil surgeons, and upazila health and family planning officers on January 29, a ministry official said yesterday.

The move came more than a month after the interim government amended the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Act, expanding the definition of tobacco products and introducing several new provisions to control their use, particularly emerging ones.

The new ordinance banned the sale of tobacco products within a 100-metre radius of educational institutions, hospitals, playgrounds and children’s parks.

“The directive was issued in line with the ordinance, asking health authorities to ensure its full implementation,” said the official, who wished not to be named.

The original 2005 regulation designated hospitals as public places where smoking had been prohibited and stipulated a Tk 50 fine for violations. The fine was later increased to Tk 300 through an amendment in 2013.

The ordinance raised the fine to Tk 2,000 for both smoking and the intake of any kind of tobacco-based products in designated public places.

The ministry also asked health facility authorities to display placards prohibiting smoking.