Bangladesh is one of the highest tobacco using countries that has now become a matter of grave concern, speakers said at Rajshahi on Saturday.
They viewed more than 4.60 crore people use tobacco products, both smoke and smokeless and 12 lakh of them are infected with various diseases like lung cancer, brain hemorrhage, heart and respiratory tract infections.
Moreover, around Tk 5,100 crore are being spent for treatment purposes of the infected patients yearly.
The observations came at a participatory discussion held at the conference hall of Association for Community Development, a rights-based organisation.
ACD and Rajshahi regional committee of Anti Tobacco Media Alliance jointly hosted the discussion where some 25 journalists of both print and electronic media and news agencies from different districts of the division attended.
In his keynote presentation, ACD project coordinator Ehsanul Amin Emon said proper execution of the tobacco control law has become an urgent need to protect many non-smokers from passive smoking.
Forging social movement is needed to ensure hundred per cent smoke-free public places and transports for freeing millions of second hand and passive smocking from various harmful effects.
He alleged that some of the tobacco companies are expanding their market promotional activities everywhere in the name of corporate social responsibilities that must be resisted for the sake of sound public health.
Taking part in the open discussion, the attending journalists said that pictorial health warning is useful to create awareness about tobacco impacts.
They observed that most of the people of our country are illiterate, yet pictorial tobacco health warning has not been incorporated in our country which clearly hinders people from knowing the impacts of tobacco products.
-With New Age input
