Quit smoking today

It is forbidden to smoke in public places! 'I told a pedestrian smoking at the Farmgate intersection.

He laughed and said, "I know."

"Then why are you doing it?"

"Everyone eats," he said with a smile. So I eat too. 'At that time, a policeman was seen standing in front of the hut shop at the corner, smoking. Many people like him are busy smoking here. Some people are giving the last ‘pleasure’ in cigarettes. They don't care about the people passing by.

Mother and daughter are standing in line to get on the bus after school holidays. Three young men standing in line behind them are telling stories. Cigarettes in everyone's fingers. There is smoke in the eyes of mother and daughter. Annoyed, the mother tried to draw their attention a few times, but they did not flinch. As a result, the mother covered her nose and her daughter's nose and tried to escape from the indirect smoke. The incident took place today at Pallabi in Mirpur.

Such a picture of smoking in public is constantly seen all over the country including the capital. It's not just the smoker who gets hurt. Non-smokers are not protected from the evils of smoking. The number of indirect smokers is not less. According to the Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2009, 413 million adults in Bangladesh use tobacco, which is 43.3% of the total population. Of these, 23 percent of adults smoke.

The smoking rate is much higher among men. There are 2 crore 12 lakh male smokers in the country, while the number of female smokers is 7 lakh. About 1 crore 15 lakh people are victims of indirect smoking without smoking themselves. About one crore women in Bangladesh are victims of secondhand smoke. Of these, 30 percent are exposed to secondhand smoke in the workplace and 21 percent in public.

The harmful aspects of smoking cannot be underestimated in any way. In this regard, Medicine Consultant of Samarita Hospital Mostaq Hossain told Prothom Alo that smokers are at increased risk of chronic bronchitis, cancer, especially lung and oral cavity, brain stroke and other diseases. He added that those who smoke are more likely to be affected by smoking-related diseases.

Smoking alone kills 57,000 people every year and paralyzes 372,000. Bidi-cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 harmful substances, of which 69 are responsible for cancer. A study by the World Health Organization found that one person dies every six seconds in the world due to tobacco. It is estimated that by 2030, 10 million people worldwide will die each year from tobacco! 8 million of which will happen in third world countries like Bangladesh.

Children and pregnant women are most at risk due to secondhand smoke. The unborn child is also at risk. The child is playing next to the father in absolute dependence. And whether the smoking parent is the cause of the most harm to the child is not understood. Children suffer from heart attack, shortness of breath, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis etc. One study found that cigarette smoke disrupted a child's normal growth and emotional development. Smoking is said to be the first step in taking drugs. Most people take drugs through bidi-cigarettes. Apart from this, there is no shortage of examples of fires caused by smoking.

Awareness is needed to prevent smoking. But there is no anti-smoking campaign to create awareness. Since March 19, the government has made warnings with color pictures and writing mandatory on all tobacco products in 50 percent of the country. However, a recent study by the non-governmental organization Pragya found that 85 per cent of the country's tobacco products do not have health warnings with pictures. This is not happening at all. The government should take action against them.

Smoking never brings good for anyone. Smoking means committing suicide in 'installments'. Many people jokingly say, ‘Eat bidis, I will die.’ So it is not too late, quit smoking today.