World No Tobacco Day observed

World No Tobacco Day was observed on Monday in the country as elsewhere in the world with a call to raise awareness about harmful effects of smoking, especially among the women.
‘Let there be all days free from smoking’ was the slogan of the day this year in Bangladesh while the global theme was ‘Gender and Tobacco with an Emphasis on Marketing to Women’.
Different government and non-government organisations had chalked out various programmes to observe the day with an objective to establish a tobacco-free society.
Home minister Shahara Khatun declared Ramna police station a smoke free office at a programme organised by Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance held at the police station. She said all the police stations would be declared free from smoking gradually.
She said as a large number of the people are illiterate, pictorial warning massages should be printed on the packets of the tobacco products.
In observance of the day, Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance and Consumers Association of Bangladesh in association with 13 organisations brought out a procession from
National Museum which ended at Teachers and Student Centre of Dhaka University.
Speakers at the rally demanded that the government should amend the Smoking and Tobacco Product Usage (Control) Act 2005 and make the tobacco companies bound to print pictorial warning messages on the tobacco product packets.
Jogsutro Foundation and Proggya formed a human chain in front of the National Museum to mark the day.
The organisations demanded imposition of higher taxes on tobacco based products such as bidi, cigarette, jorda, gul and tobacco leaves. They also demanded steps to protect women and children from secondary smoking.
The anti-tobacco activists said that around 30 per cent women are the victim of secondary smoking at work place while another 21 per cent women are victims at public place.
Jagannath University was declared as the country’s first university to ban smoking. Pratyasha- an anti drug club, organised the programme at the university to mark the day.
The Bangladesh Cancer Society in association with the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital formed an anti-smoking rally near the institute in the city.
Anti-tobacco organisation ADHUNIK and the World Health Organisation organised a rally and held a discussion meeting at the Press Club to mark the World No Tobacco Day.

Via: NewAge