RAJSHAHI: Unabated use of tobacco due to a lack of awareness and proper imposition of existing laws and low price of tobacco products is taking a toll on the public health in the city and its surrounding areas, said health experts and others concerned. Urging the young generation to avoid tobacco, they recommended enacting tougher laws, properly imposing existing laws, increasing taxes on tobacco products, raising massive awareness programmes and featuring photographs showing the effect of smoking on cigarette packets. Dr Mahbubur Rahman Khan, associate professor of Medicine in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, said around 57,000 people die every year in Bangladesh from at least eight tobacco-induced diseases, including cancer.
Quoting a World Health Organisation report, he said tobacco use currently claims around 5 million lives across the globe and numbers would exceed 8 million by 2030. Tactical marketing maneuvering by tobacco companies inducing youngsters as new smokers defying and bypassing restrictive law is advancing unabated in Rajshahi and its adjacent areas.
Ehsanul Amin Emon, programme coordinator of Association for Community Development, says even persons engaged in unethical marketing process expressed their exclamation about non-implementation of the law for restricting tobacco use. One of the field executives commented that it is not possible to restrict tobacco use unless it is totally banned by the law.
As an alarming procedure many of the tobacco companies are distributing free cigarette sticks to teens as an aggressive expansion of the market. Now they are covering rural markets and other growth centres as the areas are remaining out of eyes.
These foreign products contribute a lot to creating new smokers and encouraging
the women towards smoking. Local markets are now flooded with various illegal foreign cigarettes posing a serious threat to the public health.
Selling and consumption of the unauthorised cigarettes have been enhanced manifold in the border belt city promptly creating a grave concern among the conscious circle relating to the massive drug addiction. The brands namely black, more, prine-prime, Esse, Esse-Lirths, Esseex, mode, Mood, Oris and Strawberry are being sold randomly in the markets.
In addition frequent display of various advertisements for the illegal products in all the outlets and selling points are taking place to attract the consumers especially the young generation, Sekendar Ali, Director of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.
Time has come to stop all sorts of
tobacco promotion related advertisements, publicity and patronisation to protect
the future generation from the harmful effects of smoking and other tobacco
products, he said.
He viewed utmost emphasis should be given on freeing the public places and transports from smoking. There is no alternative to conduct mobile courts frequently to enforce the law of tobacco control in those places properly.
Besides, coordination among the key stakeholders, awareness building and capacity development and law enforcement particularly mobile court operation could be the vital strategies for effective implementation of the law, he added.
All concerned especially the retailers and other vendors should abide by the law of the tobacco control to protect the public health from bad effect of both smoke and smokeless tobacco products.