DHAKA, Oct 30, 2017 (BSS) – The National Tobacco Control Cell under the Directorate General of Health Service is working to bring down tobacco consumption to zero level by 2040, according to a government notification.
The government has amended the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (control) Act to make it more effective and time-befitting to supplement the efforts of reducing tobacco consumption to zero level, said the notification issued recently.
The Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Rule-2015 was made to enforce this law effectively to make a tobacco-free country, it added.
The notification laid emphasis on strict implementation of the tobacco control act to free all public places from tobacco to avoid its adverse impact.
Referring to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey conducted in 2009, the notification said 43.3 percent people of Bangladesh use tobacco.
Health experts said the use of tobacco should be stopped as it causes serious diseases, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes and asthma.
According to WHO, Bangladesh earns around Taka 2,400 crore per year from the tobacco sector, but the country incurs yearly loss of about Taka 5,000 crore as treatment cost for fatal diseases, they said, adding that the gross loss due to fatal diseases in tobacco sector is Taka 2,600 crore.
According to a study conducted by WHO in 2004, each year tobacco kills six million people worldwide and the death toll is likely to reach eight million a year if the current trend continues.
In Bangladesh, at least 57,000 people die each year from eight tobacco-related diseases. The rate of tobacco use in Bangladesh is one of the highest in the world