Tobacco consumption is causing the deaths of at least 442 people every day in the country, said physicians and reporters at a workshop on Wednesday, calling for urgent amendment of the Tobacco Control Act.

Annually, 1 lakh 16 thousand people are killed and nearly 4 lakh are maimed due to tobacco consumption, they said.

The National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (NHFB) and Bangladesh Health Reporters’ Forum arranged the workshop at Paltan in the capital.

Dr Sohel Reza Chowdhury, chief of research and epidemiology at the hospital, presented the key note paper.

Apart from the direct impact of smoking, 3.84 crore people become indirect victims of smoking every day, he said.

Rashed Rabbi, president of Bangladesh Health Reporters’ Forum; Naimul Azam Khan, adviser at tobacco control project at NHFB; project coordinator Dr Aruna Sarkar; and Mainul Hasan Sohel, general secretary at Dhaka Reporters Unity; spoke at the workshop, among others.