Tobacco control and Bangladesh

Tobacco continues to remain as a major health threat worldwide and the situation in Bangladesh is not improving. According to a recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet, Bangladesh is among those six countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Germany that account for two-thirds of global tobacco use. While many countries in the world saw decrease in the percentage of number of tobacco users from 1995 to 2015, for Bangladesh there was no change in the figure, that is, 38 per cent of men here still use tobacco. That is very discouraging.     
Since cigarettes are still relatively cheaper in Bangladesh, people here are more vulnerable to the morbidity and mortality for using tobacco. That is why the government should now follow the guidelines of World Health Organisation (WHO) and impose 70 per cent tax on tobacco products. According to an estimate, Bangladesh can earn additional revenue of Tk 25,000 crore annually if it enforces the WHO guideline on taxing tobacco sale.
However, the point is not so much about government earning more revenue; if applied, the measure will drastically cut tobacco use in the country as well. Despite the government imposed a ban on smoking in public places long ago, the fact of the matter is, smoking in the open has rather increased in the country and one can spot persons anywhere smoking cigarettes causing health hazards of passive smoking. The irony is even the members of the law enforcers who are supposed to enforce the ban are often found to be puffing up smoke in the public.
Another worrying point is that women are increasingly getting addicted to smoking. Therefore, raising taxes on tobacco products thus making a price of a cigarette much costlier can discourage smoking. It is also important to enforce the tax regime strongly and organise anti-smoking campaign all through the year disseminating message on the harm caused by smoking.
But increasing people’s health awareness now seems to be the most important step to reduce the number of smokers here in Bangladesh. People should be made aware of the fact that a smoker is many times more likely to get affected by the lethal disease cancer than a non-smoking person. Smoking is also significantly responsible for hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc.
As half of the daily smokers will die prematurely due to their tobacco habit unless they quit habit, stronger prohibitive measures should be taken to avert these deaths.

 

Tobacco control and Bangladesh

Tobacco continues to remain as a major health threat worldwide and the situation in Bangladesh is not improving. According to a recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet, Bangladesh is among those six countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and Germany that account for two-thirds of global tobacco use. While many countries in the world saw decrease in the percentage of number of tobacco users from 1995 to 2015, for Bangladesh there was no change in the figure, that is, 38 per cent of men here still use tobacco. That is very discouraging. Since cigarettes are still relatively cheaper in Bangladesh, people here are more vulnerable to the morbidity and mortality for using tobacco. That is why the government should now follow the guidelines of World Health Organisation (WHO) and impose 70 per cent tax on tobacco products. According to an estimate, Bangladesh can earn additional revenue of Tk 25,000 crore annually if it enforces the WHO guideline on taxing tobacco sale. However, the point is not so much about government earning more revenue; if applied, the measure will drastically cut tobacco use in the country as well. Despite the government imposed a ban on smoking in public places long ago, the fact of the matter is, smoking in the open has rather increased in the country and one can spot persons anywhere smoking cigarettes causing health hazards of passive smoking. The irony is even the members of the law enforcers who are supposed to enforce the ban are often found to be puffing up smoke in the public. Another worrying point is that women are increasingly getting addicted to smoking. Therefore, raising taxes on tobacco products thus making a price of a cigarette much costlier can discourage smoking. It is also important to enforce the tax regime strongly and organise anti-smoking campaign all through the year disseminating message on the harm caused by smoking. But increasing peoples health awareness now seems to be the most important step to reduce the number of smokers here in Bangladesh. People should be made aware of the fact that a smoker is many times more likely to get affected by the lethal disease cancer than a non-smoking person. Smoking is also significantly responsible for hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc. As half of the daily smokers will die prematurely due to their tobacco habit unless they quit habit, stronger prohibitive measures should be taken to avert these deaths.