The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

World No Tobacco Day was observed across the country on Saturday as elsewhere in the world stressing the need for stopping tobacco use, especially among the youths.

This year's theme for the day was: Tobacco Free Youth: Safer and Healthier.

Some 85 percent young people, aged 12-24, out of 1.8 billion around the world, live in developing countries.

The tobacco industry intensifies its efforts to enlist new, young and potentially life-long tobacco users. The health of a significant percentage of the world's youth is seriously threatened by their deadly products.

Various anti-tobacco organizations observed different programmes to mark the day.

Like every year, ADHUNIK, a leading anti-tobacco organization, observed through holding a discussion meeting at the National Press Club.

Speaking on the occasion, CAT (Coalition Against Tobacco) President and ADHUNIK Senior Vice-President Amanullah Khan said the youth community is the main target and victim of the tobacco companies. Because if tobacco companies could enlist the youth addicts, they would become their customers for life.

He alleged the tobacco companies focused their target on 36 percent youth population of the world that meant a 1.8 billion consumer market. Bangladesh has 40 percent youth in its total population that provides a prime market of about 56 million young population up for the grabs by the tobacco companies.

He pointed out that the government has realized from the tobacco companies an amount of Tk 2800 crore during the current fiscal (2007-8) till February as VAT and Supplementary Duty (SD) which work out to about 30 percent of the total VAT and SD while such revenue earned from the tobacco products stood at 31.50 percent last year indicating an unhealthy over dependence on tobacco to fill government coffers.

Khan also expressed disappointment that the rates of duty and tax structure on the tobacco has remained more or less static for last several years despite the persistent demand of different anti-tobacco organizations to raise the tax level considerably to make bidi and cigarettes more costly in an attempt to discourage people from smoking.

He also mentioned that sales, profit and share prices of British American Tobacco, Bangladesh (BATB) are mounting rapidly. Its sales rose to Tk 3,787 crore in 2007 from Tk 3,500 crore in 2006 and its share price more than doubled in a year.

He added that this increasing trend of sales of BATB is not an accident but it is the result of their clever strategy and shrewd business tactics as well as the failure to apply the anti-tobacco legislation strictly and diligently.

He also suggested that in view of the food crisis that the world is facing today, and which is likely to get worse in future, it is high time tobacco crops are replaced by the staple food crops like rice, wheat and maize.

He spelled out the slogan of the day: "We want to cultivate food crops not poisonous tobacco". This slogan, he said, should be communicated to the farmers by the anti-tobacco campaigners in their respective districts or territories.

Speaking on the occasion, National Professor Dr Nurul Islam, founder president of ADHUNIK, stressed the need for stopping use of tobacco before it assumes the enormity of a social curse.

Stressing the importance on rigorously implementing the anti-tobacco laws, he said the prime responsibility of today is to protect the youth from tobacco addiction.

Prof. Islam put emphasis on three points. These are: Taxes on tobacco products should be increased 200 percent so that it is removed from the affordability of the young males and females, anti-tobacco lessens should be included as a major component in the formal and informal education system, and thirdly, education institutions should be declared tobacco-free.

In his speech, ADHUNIK executive secretary MA Jabbar said creating a tobacco-free world is not so difficult if the youth force could be kept free from tobacco use alongside engaging them in nation building works.

Showing a grim picture of tobacco users, Jabbar informed that every year, 54 lakh people in the world die of tobacco related diseases. The number would rise to 80 lakh by 2030 if the use of tobacco could not be stopped.