World No Tobacco Day being observed

Risingbd Desk: The World No Tobacco Day is observed on May 31 every year, and this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for governments across the world to enact policies for plain packaging of tobacco products.

According to WHO, about 6 million people die every year from tobacco-related illnesses. About 5 million die from direct tobacco use, and more than 600,000 deaths are caused by second-hand smoke.

WHO’s slogan for this year’s World No Tobacco Day is “Get ready for plain packaging” and in a statement released Tuesday, it said: “Plain packaging is an important demand reduction measure that reduces the attractiveness of tobacco products, restricts use of tobacco packaging as a form of tobacco advertising and promotion, limits misleading packaging and labelling, and increases the effectiveness of health warnings. Plain packaging of tobacco products refers to measures that restrict or prohibit the use of logos, colours, brand images or promotional information on packaging other than brand names and product names displayed in a standard colour and font style.”

According to a 2014 report of the World Health Organization (WHO), Bangladesh is one the countries across the world where cigarette price is lowest. The prices of bidi and smokeless tobacco are also lowest in Bangladesh and these tobacco products are being cheaper here day by day. About 4.6 crore people use tobacco in Bangladesh. Of them, 58 percent male use bidi and cigarettes while 29 percent women use smokeless tobacco products like jarda, gul and sada pata. About one lakh people are being killed due to tobacco related diseases in the country each year, costing 3 percent of its total GDP, says an independent study.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages highlighting the significance of observing the day.

According to latest data, over 95,000 people die in Bangladesh each year from tobacco-related diseases, and 16 percent of all deaths among people age 30 years and above are attributable to tobacco use. There are about 1.2 million cases of tobacco-attributable illness in Bangladesh each year, while 42 per cent of youth (age 13-15) are exposed to secondhand smoke in public places  and 35 per cent of youth are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.

risingbd/DHAKA/May 31, 2016/Augustin Sujan