Dhaka, Sept. 10 -- Tobacco and nicotine products remain a major obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the target of reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), experts have said at a roundtable recently.

Nearly 71 percent of all deaths in Bangladesh are attributable to NCDs, including cardiovascular diseases, stroke and cancer, with tobacco use among the major contributing factors, they said.

They stressed that without strong legislation and effective enforcement, achieving the SDG target of reducing premature deaths from NCDs by one-third would be difficult.

The remarks came at a roundtable titled "Tobacco Control, NCDs and SDGs: Bangladesh's Progress and Way Forward", organi...