Dhaka – World No Tobacco Day is being observed in the country today (Tuesday) as elsewhere across the globe, aiming to make people aware of the adverse impacts of tobacco use.
Every year, on May 31, World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners mark World No Tobacco Day highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.According to a 2014 report of the 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 getting 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.
On the occasion of the day, WHO and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are calling countries to get ready for plain (standardised) packaging of tobacco products.
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.
