We must say the bigger responsibility lies with the government and non-government organizations to develop the campaign materials and run it with the help of media and such other outreach programmes. As per media report, survey conducted by Dhaka North City Corporation with 500 children found that 25 percent of them were suffering from various lungs diseases. This revelation is a cause of deep anxiety for all of us and it demands further study with greater population and immediate steps for wider remedial measures.
It is known to almost everyone that the main cause of respiratory diseases is dust and smoke. Dhaka is the worst polluted city in the world with dust and smoke in the air and smoke but as for remedial measures there is almost nothing to reduce the severity of the pollution. A good number of sufferers of these diseases are female; because they work in smoke while cooking. As per experts’ opinion if scientific oven that produce less smoke can be put to use in households, prevalence of diseases in respiratory track among women may be reduced dramatically. It is to be noted that due to infection in respiratory track patients suffer from influenza and pneumonia repeatedly. Thus their immune system decay and it causes fatal consequence. Many of the newborn babies in our country with under-weight have their lungs weak and are vulnerable to respiratory and chest diseases. Breastfeeding can boost their resistance power. Active and passive smoking is prime cause of chest cancer. This disease is increasing in Bangladesh alarmingly. So habit of smoking must be stopped to get relief from it.
As two survey reports conducted in 1999 and 2010 showed the number of patients suffering from pulmonary disease became double in ten years, we can’t delay the remedial measures any more. So in our view mass awareness must start vigorously in the first place to fight back the public health threat. We must have also highly equipped hospital facilities to give proper treatment to patients as their number is only growing.
