Speakers at a human chain on Wednesday demanded that the government impose heavy taxation on tobacco products in the upcoming national budget to discourage consumption of tobacco products those cause every sixth adult death in the country.
Currently, 43% of the adult people including 58% male and 29% female have been consuming cigarettes, bidi, smokeless or other tobacco products, creating grave concern for public health, they said.
Association for Community Development and Rangpur Tobacco Control Coalition jointly organised a human chain on Rangpur Press Club premises with the assistance of Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance, Human Development Research Centre and Campaign for Tobacco- Free Kids, according to a BSS report.
Self-help and Advancement Development Organisation, Organisation Development Programme for the Under Privileged, Development Organisation for Rehabilitation Programme and Consortium for Smoke Free Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions also extended cooperation in arranging the programme.
Project Coordinator of ACD Ehsanul Amin Emon, its Community Mobiliser Reajul Islam Raju, RTCC member Ahsan Habib Rabu, Secretary of Rangpur Unit of Bangladesh Red Crescent Society Shah Mohammad Nabi Ullah Panna, addressed.
Executive Director of SHADO Sarwar Jamil Khandker, ATMA member Aftab Hossain, university student Abdul Wahed, Executive Director of DORP Miraj, Councilor of Drop-in-Centre programme of ODPUP Shahidul Islam, also spoke on the occasion.
The speakers said 57,000 people are dying in Bangladesh annually consuming tobacco products and 1.2m suffering from lung cancer, cerebra-vascular, coronary artery, chronic obstructive pulmonary and other tobacco-attributable diseases.
Besides, tobacco use has become a grievous concern for the whole nation as seven% of the younger generations, aged between 13 and 15 years, have been consuming tobacco products and the trend increases consistently, they said.
