Staff Correspondent

Speakers at a programme called upon doctors to play their due role for preventing the use of tobacco products through raising awareness about its harmful effects among the people.

Being in suitable position in the society, doctors can easily motivate people to avoid the use of tobacco products. People, especially patients, are more likely to be motivated by their advice, they said.

Terming tobacco as threat to environment, human health and the economy, they said, we can protect these if we can check the tobacco, they said, urging physicians to come forward in this regard.

They made the remarks while addressing a training workshop titled ‘the harmful effects of smoking and tobacco products and its prevention’.

Bangladesh Blind Mission (BBM), an NGO working on health and disability issues, organized the event at Meghna Hall of BIAM Foundation at New Eskaton in the capital on Sunday.

The government has set a target to make Bangladesh tobacco free by 2040 considering the extent of tobacco menace to public health, the economy and environment. If the physicians constantly play their awareness raising role, it would help achieve the target, they observed.

Juel Ahmed, president of BBM, presided over, while Brigadier General (retd) Khondoker Mohamamd Mozammel Haque, advisor of BBM, was present as a special guest.

Shuvashish Mahanta, nationally renowned development consultant, Shamsal Islam, epidemiologist of Ispahani Eye Institute and Hospital, jointly conducted the training.

A total of 25 physicians from different hospitals in the capital participated at 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.