Rampant tobacco use increasing health hazards
Unabated use of tobacco due to a lack of awareness and proper imposition of existing laws and low price of tobacco products is taking a toll on the health of the country's citizens, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.
Urging the young generation to avoid tobacco, they recommended enacting tougher laws, properly imposing existing laws, increasing taxes on tobacco products, raising massive awareness programmes and featuring photographs showing the effect of smoking on cigarette packets.
Metropolitan Press Club and Anti-Tobacco Programme organised the discussion titled “Anti-Tobacco Campaign” at the club auditorium in the city, chaired by the club President Mahtab Uddin.
The programme's Rajshahi divisional Co-ordinator Dr Dayem Uddin also spoke at the programme, where Rajshahi Medical College Principal Dr Sayed Golam Kibria was the chief guest.
Dr Dayem said around 57,000 people die every year in Bangladesh from at least eight tobacco-induced diseases, including cancer.
Quoting a World Health Organization report, he said tobacco use currently claims around 5 million lives across the globe and numbers would exceed 8 million by 2030.
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