World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2015 with the theme 'stopping illicit trade of tobacco products' was observed in Barisal on Sunday calling for implementing the anti-tobacco acts against banning smoking and related tobacco items.
The participants and speakers of the proggremes said smoking and selling tobacco on water transports is unabatedly going on riverine southern region.
So mobile courts should be operated regularly to implement banning smoking and selling tobacco items on water transports under anti-tobacco acts of the country, they said.
Making city roads free from smoking, banning cultivation and business of tobacco by giving alternative livelihoods, prohibiting of selling tobacco items to minor-aged people, also stressed by the anti-tobacco activists.
'Abiskar', a voluntary organisation working on anti tobacco movement, organised a discussion meeting, reception to non-smokers and giving prizes on essay competition at Ashwini Kumar Hall on Sunday.
Activists of voluntary organisations Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB) Trust, Youth for Excellent Society (YES) Bangladesh, also formed a human chain on this occasion in front of Ashwini Kumar Hall on the same occasion.
Participants of the programmes called to raise awareness on the harm to people’s health caused by the illicit trade in tobacco products, especially the youth and low-income groups.
They said global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 6, 00,000 are non-smokers dying from breathing second-hand smoke.
Unless we act, the epidemic will kill more than 8 million people every year by 2030 in the world.
More than 80% of these preventable deaths will be among people living in low-and middle-income countries, they alerted.
