Dainik Mathabhanga, July 31, 2015, A county-wide awareness campaign was launched on Thursday by the District Tobacco Control Task Force to build a smoke-free Meherpur. The campaign was inaugurated at noon in the courtyard of the District Commissioner’s Office by Additional Deputy Commissioner Hemayet Hossain.

Speakers at the event included Task Force Committee Member Secretary and Civil Surgeon Dr. Azizur Rahman Siddiqui. Also present were Senior Health Education Officer and Task Force Member Kazi Rowshan Ara, President of Meherpur Press Club Rashid Hasan Khan Alo, General Secretary of Mujibnagar Press Club Sheikh Shafi Uddin, and AID Program Officer Touhid-ud-Doula Reza, along with other Task Force members.

With support from AID, the campaign was jointly organized by the District Tobacco Control Task Force, Subah Samajik Unnayan Sangstha, Swadesh, and Ashroy. From morning onward, public announcements were made in different parts of the district’s three upazilas using loudspeakers provided by the Information Office.

Speakers highlighted the harmful effects of tobacco use, emphasized the ban on tobacco advertisements, the mandatory installation of signs labeling public spaces as “Smoke-Free Zones,” and discussed legal provisions to penalize smoking in public places and transportation.

They agreed that by uniting the public under anti-tobacco advocacy, the implementation of tobacco control laws is very much achievable.