Study on violation of tobacco control law (Tobacco Advertisement, Promotion and Sponsorship) in TV drama
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Ambala Foundation, Non-Government Ogranization, Bangladesh
Publication date: 2018-03-01
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2018;16(Suppl 1):A201
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KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
The
major area of the 2013 amendment to the 'Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage
(Control) Act, 2005' and the corresponding Rules is the comprehensive ban on
tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) that includes
prohibition of depiction, display and description of tobacco use in all
entertainment media including Television. Consequently, this all sort of
tobacco and smoking scene broadcasting in television is completely banned. The
logic behind this kind of restriction is any kind of demonstration (direct or
indirect) of tobacco product or tobacco related material is considered as one
kind of advertising.
In
spite of having a strong law, TV channels are still violating the law and
screening smoking scene in drama. In reality, there is no monitoring mechanism
to observe these kinds of violation of law in TV channels regarding
broadcasting tobacco and smoking scene. Ambala Foundation conducted two studies
on TV drama published on leading channels of Bangladesh. The
objectives of the studies were to observe tobacco and smoking scene in
different TV channels. The study also scrutinized how strategically tobacco and
smoking scene are broadcasted in drama.
Methods:
Total 14 national TV
Channels were selected for both of studies. A total 244 dramas for study-1 and a
total number of 187 drama for study-2 were observed during this study.
Results:
About 23
dramas out of 431 contained smoking scenes. In total 65 times smoking scenes is
screened. Among them 11 times in one drama and 7 in another drama. The studies
found that the length of smoking scene is total 40 minutes 26 Seconds. The
report was submitted to Bloomberg Philanthropies and Government authorities
taking step immediately.
Conclusions:
This
report can be a valuable documentation in advocating for strengthening
enforcement of ban on all types of advertisement and promotional activities in
electronic media through policy advocacy at country level.