National No Tobacco Day-2013

57000 people die and 382000 people become paralyzed a year due to tobacco related diseases in Bangladesh as the WHO reports. Besides, 1200000 people are caught with 8 major non communicable diseases like cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and burger?s disease. A research found that, Bangladesh government earns 5000 crore taka a year as revenue from tobacco industries, but for the same period it losses 11000 crore taka to treat only 25% of the total patients of tobacco use diseases. Furthermore, most of the juvenile and young drug users start taking nicotine through tobacco products and then switch to other drugs. So, in order to create mass awareness to protect young people from the economic and health harms of tobacco use, the Bangladesh Anti Tobacco Alliance and its member organizations declared 09 October as the National No Tobacco Day. In observing the occasion, SERAC-Bangladesh and Bangladesh Anti Tobacco Alliance jointly organized a demonstration & leaflet campaign at the Railway Station compound in Mymensingh in the afternoon on Wednesday.

Speakers including SERAC-Bangladesh Program Officer Md. Oli Ahad, Project Assistant Md. Mozammel Haque, Teacher?s Leader Md. Jasim Uddin, Jubo Sangha Coordinator Ilias Ali, Businessman Abul Kasem and SERAC-Bangladesh Project Officer Md. Barkat Ullah Bhuiyan demanded urgent enforcement of new provisions in the tobacco control law incorporated in 2013, implementation of law at smoke free zones, following pictorial warnings on tobacco packets, regular mobile courts to tackle tobacco companies? interference. A large number of people from different spheres of life attended the campaign deliberately and committed to abide by the tobacco control law for public health protection.