BSS, Dhaka :
In the name of part-time jobs, tobacco companies have now engaged young people to promote their harmful products at sales points-superstores and roadside tea stalls – – in the city, violating the amended tobacco control law.
The youngsters, mostly college and university students, are allured to take up the job due to lucrative offers by tobacco companies and sometimes they are being offered added facilities subject to fulfillment of their target.
Encouraged by the offers, the students spend most of their scheduled time at roadside tea stalls to woo customers, but this does not ends here. The technique of influential tobacco companies helps young people start smoking.
This correspondent visited a number of tea stalls, point of sales and conventional departmental shops in the city’s posh areas and found that young people in group are campaigning for local and foreign tobacco products.
They, in company uniforms, were seen in front of tea stalls convincing stall owners with cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. Some of them were seen decorating stalls using colourful leaflets inscribed with promotional remarks.
“I’m no longer dependent on my father to bear my educational expenses as I am now capable to meet my daily and education expenses on my own and even I contribute to my family the amount as I can,” said Ferdows Hasan Ovi, a young tobacco seller at Banani.
The tobacco campaigner declined to respond when asked if he become addicted to cigarettes for dealing with tobacco products in the long run.
Mofiz Mia, a tea stall owner, said he doesn’t know whether any promotion in favour of tobacco products is tantamount to the violation of law.
He said his work became easy as he doesn’t have to go to markets now to buy cigarettes as company sellers especially young people bring tobacco products to him.
Talking to BSS, Taifur Rahman, Coordinator of the US-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, described such kind of campaign as tantamount to the violation of tobacco control law.
According to the law, any promotional work is completely prohibited, he said adding that the tobacco companies carry out their promotional activities targeting youngsters.
The anti-tobacco campaigner said companies violate the law at different level and nowadays smoking scene on TV screen is being witnessed.
Dr Nazrul Haque, tobacco control team leader of Johns Hopkins- Bangladesh Centre for Communications Programs (BCCP), said rules of the law are yet to be approved by authorities concerned.
“There will be significant development soon in controlling tobacco use especially introduction of pictorial health marking on tobacco packets,” said Haque, who was also member of the law drafting committee.
Anti-tobacco campaigners and experts appreciates the government for amendment to the Law but favour urgent steps to formulate tobacco control rules for effective enforcement of the amended law to deter people from smoking.
The government amended the tobacco control law-’05 against the backdrop of the growing use of tobacco in Bangladesh where study showed more than 43 percent adults either smoke or chew tobacco.
The only legal product that kills people, tobacco is also linked to about 57,000 deaths annually in Bangladesh, WHO says, with additional over 350,000 people suffering from various ailments, costs of that treatment are double than the revenue government earns from tobacco industries.
