On the occasion of the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2024, PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) Executive Director ABM Zubair empahsised on tobacco control laws saying, “We must safeguard this generation by strengthening tobacco control law.”
Zubair said that the youth comprises 48 per cent of Bangladesh's total population and said, “They are the main target of tobacco companies.”
WNTD 2024 was observed around the globe on Friday under the theme “Protecting Children from Tobacco Industry Interference.”
In Bangladesh, the event was observed under the title “Tamak Companyr Hostokkhep Protihato Kori, Shishuder Surokkha Nishchit Kori,” according to a press release.
PROGGA released a factsheet on this ocassion recently, where they stated that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2022 data, globally at least 37 million young people, aged between 13 and 15 years, use some form of tobacco on a regular basis.
Tobacco industry often employs a number of ill tactics to get the children and adolescents hooked their deadly brands. The list of cunning tactics includes -- marketing flavoured tobacco products, making tobacco products available near educational institutions, using social media celebrities to promote tobacco brands, sponsoring events, and most importantly, opposing any attempt to adopt and implement strong tobacco control law and tobacco tax measures.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US, those who get hooked on tobacco before the age of 21 are most likely to become lifetime users of such deadly products. Global School-based Health Survey 2014 (GSHS), the prevalence of tobacco use among students aged 13-15 in Bangladesh is 9.2 per cent.
PROGGA’s factsheet added that tobacco is the only legal consumer product in the world that kills people. When one generation of tobacco users succumb to death or quit due to the diseases caused, tobacco companies create a new batch of users, comprising children, adolescents and youth, to replace the one that expired, adds the release.
The child who gets trapped in the allure of tobacco industry's flashy advertisements eventually becomes a lifetime consumer of the company.
It should be noted that tobacco-related diseases cause 1,61,000 deaths each year in Bangladesh.
