Stronger tobacco control laws are essential to protect children: wisdom

Tomorrow (May 31) is World No Tobacco Day. This year the theme of the day is 'Protecting Children from Tobacco Industry Interference'. In Bangladesh, the day is going to be celebrated under the title 'Resist tobacco company interference, ensure children's safety'.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 3.7 million teenagers between the ages of 13-15 use tobacco regularly in the world and companies resort to various tactics to get them addicted to certain brands. These include marketing flavored tobacco products, making tobacco products readily available around educational institutions, using celebrities on social media, sponsoring events, and opposing strong laws and tax measures.

According to research by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), those who become addicted to tobacco before the age of 21 have the highest rates of nicotine dependence and lifelong tobacco use. According to the Global School-Based Health Survey, 2014 (GSHS), the prevalence of tobacco use among students aged 13-15 in Bangladesh is 9.2 percent.

Tobacco is the only legal product in the world, which inevitably leads to the death of its consumer. When a generation of smokers dies or is forced to quit smoking due to the outbreak of a killer disease, tobacco companies create a new generation of smokers to keep the business going. A teenager who is lured by attractive advertisements and who picks up tobacco today, becomes a lifelong customer of the company tomorrow. In Bangladesh alone, tobacco companies lose 161,000 consumers a year due to tobacco-related deaths.

ABM Zubair, executive director of Pragya (Knowledge for Progress), a research and advocacy organization, said in a response on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day that 48 percent of the current population in Bangladesh are youth and they are the company's main target. This generation needs to be protected from tobacco companies by strengthening the law.