Online survey finds 5.5% of respondents aged 18-24 currently use newer tobacco products

An online survey of 524 people aged 18 to 24 found that 5.5 percent currently use newer tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products (HTPs) and nicotine pouches.

The study also found 28.1 percent had used at least one of these products at some point in their lives.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The findings were presented today at a programme at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka, where the National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh released a study titled “Trends in e-cigarette, heated tobacco product and nicotine pouch use among Bangladeshi youth”.

Data were collected through an online survey between March and July 2025. Of the respondents, 78.2 percent were male and 21.8 percent female, according to a press release from the foundation.

Among the newer tobacco products, e-cigarettes were the most widely used, with 4.6 percent of participants currently using them; 1.3 percent of them used nicotine pouches and 0.8 percent used HTPs.

Use was considerably higher among male participants, with 34.4 percent reporting lifetime use compared with 5.3 percent of female participants.

The study found a strong association between conventional cigarette use and newer tobacco products. Among current cigarette smokers, 15.4 percent were currently using newer products, compared with 1.6 percent among those who currently didn't smoke conventional cigarettes.

The survey also found that young participants had been exposed to advertisements for e-cigarettes, HTPs and nicotine pouches through various channels. Some 26 percent had seen advertisements at shops or sales outlets, 20.8 percent on social media and 13.2 percent through other channels. Facebook was the most common platform, cited by 89 percent of those exposed, followed by Instagram and YouTube, at 34.9 percent and 23.9 percent respectively.

The event was chaired by Prof Khandaker Abdul Awal Rizvi, president of the National Heart Foundation. Zahir Uddin Swapan, political adviser to the prime minister and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Planning, attended as chief guest.

Other guests included Abu Mansur Sakhawat Hasan, MP; Sharif Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute; Mahin Malik, regional director of South Asia programmes at CTFK; Sheikh Momena Moni and ANM Moinul Islam, additional secretaries of the health ministry.