Hotel, restaurant owners call for ban on smoking zones

Hotel and restaurant owners in Dhaka have urged the government to repeal provisions allowing smoking zones in food outlets and amend the tobacco control law to create a completely smoke-free environment.

The call was made at a discussion titled “Steps to Ensure 100% Smoke-Free Hotels and Restaurants for Public Health Protection”, organized by Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) at the Dhaka Divisional Commissioner’s office.

Around 85 owners attended the event, emphasizing that smoking zones fail to protect non-smokers, as tobacco smoke easily spreads to adjacent areas, exposing women, children, and other customers to harmful secondhand smoke.

The discussion was chaired by Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Sharaf Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, with participation from owners of well-known outlets including BFC, Chilies, Sultan Dines, and Bagicha.

Shariful Islam, Tobacco Control Project Coordinator at DAM, presented key findings from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), which reported 19.2 million smokers in Bangladesh and about 40 million non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke. The data revealed that nearly half (49.7%) of people are exposed to secondhand smoke in restaurants, increasing the risk of heart disease for non-smokers by up to 85%.

Islam also noted that despite a legal ban on tobacco advertisements, 73% of restaurants in Dhaka still display promotional materials in their smoking zones.

Additional Divisional Commissioner Azmal Hossain and other stakeholders joined the discussion. DAM’s Health Sector Deputy Director Mukhlesur Rahman delivered the welcome address.