City Desk :
Gafur, a 13-year-old working boy sitting in the corner of a busy Farmgate intersection, was smoking cigarettes like an adult.
“I do feel grown up when I smoke. I buy cigarettes with my own earning … so what’s wrong… it’s my business not others,” he said with a rigid voice mocking like a film star after blowing a smoke ring in the air when asked why he was smoking, despite being under aged.
“I work as a tempo (small passenger van) helper the whole day …. I don’t get energy, if I
don’t smoke,” said Rayhan sitting beside Gafur, couple of years older than his friend.
This is a common scenario elsewhere in Dhaka city as the numbers of underage smokers are increasing in the country gradually while anti- tobacco researches said, smoking is more harmful to children compared to adults.
As per Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) of 2013, seven percent of youth aged between 12 and 15 of Bangladesh consume tobacco in different forms.
Another research, conducted in 115 countries said that numbers of adolescent smokers have been increased globally as it found 12 percent of male and seven percent of female adolescents do smoke worldwide.
The children are also major victims of passive smoking as the law to prohibit smoking in
public places is not being implemented properly, experts said.
According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) more than two crore people in Bangladesh are taking tobacco in various ways while one percent of the country’s total GDP is spent on tobacco consumption.
The study found that 18.5 percent of total smokers in the country start smoking before their 15th birthday, while 25 percent start it between 15 and 16 years of age.
The incidence of smoking is three fold higher among illiterate people, who constitute 63
percent of the country’s population, the study observed.
Director of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital Dr Uttam Kumar Barua said a mass anti-tobacco upsurge needs to be built up for implementing the existing Tobacco Control Law as per the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to check health hazards due to smoking.
The government had already taken various initiative to create mass awareness about the use of tobacco.
As part of it, pictorial health warnings have been made mandatory to cover at least 50
percent of the main display area of all tobacco products as well as misleading terms such as “light” and “low tar” are prohibited on tobacco packaging.
Besides, tobacco advertising is prohibited in all print and electronic media, including at the point-of-sale.
While observing the “World No Tobacco Day” (WNTO) on May 31 last, ten organisations formed a cancer and anti-tobacco alliance to heighten awareness across the country.
Gafur, a 13-year-old working boy sitting in the corner of a busy Farmgate intersection, was smoking cigarettes like an adult.
“I do feel grown up when I smoke. I buy cigarettes with my own earning … so what’s wrong… it’s my business not others,” he said with a rigid voice mocking like a film star after blowing a smoke ring in the air when asked why he was smoking, despite being under aged.
“I work as a tempo (small passenger van) helper the whole day …. I don’t get energy, if I
don’t smoke,” said Rayhan sitting beside Gafur, couple of years older than his friend.
This is a common scenario elsewhere in Dhaka city as the numbers of underage smokers are increasing in the country gradually while anti- tobacco researches said, smoking is more harmful to children compared to adults.
As per Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) of 2013, seven percent of youth aged between 12 and 15 of Bangladesh consume tobacco in different forms.
Another research, conducted in 115 countries said that numbers of adolescent smokers have been increased globally as it found 12 percent of male and seven percent of female adolescents do smoke worldwide.
The children are also major victims of passive smoking as the law to prohibit smoking in
public places is not being implemented properly, experts said.
According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) more than two crore people in Bangladesh are taking tobacco in various ways while one percent of the country’s total GDP is spent on tobacco consumption.
The study found that 18.5 percent of total smokers in the country start smoking before their 15th birthday, while 25 percent start it between 15 and 16 years of age.
The incidence of smoking is three fold higher among illiterate people, who constitute 63
percent of the country’s population, the study observed.
Director of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital Dr Uttam Kumar Barua said a mass anti-tobacco upsurge needs to be built up for implementing the existing Tobacco Control Law as per the directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to check health hazards due to smoking.
The government had already taken various initiative to create mass awareness about the use of tobacco.
As part of it, pictorial health warnings have been made mandatory to cover at least 50
percent of the main display area of all tobacco products as well as misleading terms such as “light” and “low tar” are prohibited on tobacco packaging.
Besides, tobacco advertising is prohibited in all print and electronic media, including at the point-of-sale.
While observing the “World No Tobacco Day” (WNTO) on May 31 last, ten organisations formed a cancer and anti-tobacco alliance to heighten awareness across the country.
