Speakers at an event called on NGO activists to play their roles in raising awareness among people against the use of tobacco products.
Tobacco poses a great risk to human health, the economy and environment. Having a countrywide network, NGO activists has advantage of making people aware of the risks, they observed.
They came up with the remarks while addressing a training programme titled ‘Negative effects of tobacco products and ways to combat it’ for NGO activists at Siesta Hotel and Convention Hall at Banani in Sadar upazila of Bogura.
Bangladesh Blind Mission (BBM), a NGO working on health and disability issues, organized the programme.
Twenty-five employees of different NGOs of the district took part in the daylong event on Saturday.
Welcoming the participants, Khandker Abedul Islam, finance and admin manager of BBM, stressed on the combined efforts of all concerned for reducing the use of tobacco products for making the country a better place for the future generation.
Shamsal Islam, eminent researcher and epidemiologist of Ispahani Eye Institute and Hospital of Dhaka, highlighted the physical, mental and economic losses caused by tobacco.
In his address, Shuvashish Mahanta, nationally renowned development consultant, emphasized on the role of NGO activists, saying that they can play a pivotal role in raising awareness on the negative effects of tobacco products across the country.
While speaking, the participants vowed to play their roles in raising awareness on tobacco cessation.
Tareque Mahmood, project officer of BBM, moderated the event.
Citing data of 2022 of World Health Organization (WHO), the event was told that smoking is prevalent among 28.6% adult people in Bangladesh. Among the people, 47.7% is males and 8.7% is females. According to a data of 2021, about 1.60 lakh people die of smoking-related diseases in Bangladesh every year.
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