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DHAKA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Bangladesh plans to prohibit thesale and use of electronic cigarettes and vaporisers, a healthofficial said on Sunday, as countries around the world move toban devices that have been linked to health risks and teenaddiction.
"We are actively working to impose a ban on the production,import and sale of e-cigarettes and all vaping tobaccos toprevent health risks," Shaikh Yusuf Harun, Secretary at thehealth education and family welfare division of the Ministry ofHealth and Family welfare, told Reuters.
The health ministry had taken into consideration the recentspate of deaths and illnesses linked to e-cigarette use in theUnited States, he said.
A ban on e-cigarettes and vaporisers will be incorporated inthe tobacco control policy 2019, now being drawn up by thegovernment, he added. It will then be submitted to parliamentfor approval.
E-cigarettes are available everywhere in Bangladesh fromsmall street corner shops to e-commerce sites.
India, which has the second-largest population of adultsmokers in the world, banned the sale of e-cigarettes in Octoberas it warned of a vaping "epidemic" among young people.
Public health officials in the United States recommendedagainst using e-cigarettes after 12 deaths and 805 cases ofillnesses linked to e-cigarette use were reported.
The global market for e-cigarettes was worth $15.7 billionin 2018, according to data from Euromonitor International, andis projected to more than double to $40 billion in 2023.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Susan Fenton) ((Ruma.Paul@thomsonreuters.com; +880 2 58315303; ReutersMessaging: ruma.paul.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
