Tobacco.org

• Bidi industry jobs myth busted!  

Bangladesh's 100-odd bidi factories employ far fewer people than claimed, according to an investigation that clears the smokescreen created by the industry proponents.

Around 65,000 people work in the 117 factories spread over 31 districts, the findings revealed.

The figures run contrary to claims by industry advocates that more than 2.5 million workers are engaged in over 400 local hand-rolled cigarette industries.

The Bangladesh chapter of the US-based Campaign For Tobacco Free Kids conducted the investigation with the help of journalists in an apparent effort to convince the government to raise taxes on bidis and help workers find alternative jobs, for the sake of public health.

Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Nasiruddin Ahmed at a global conference on tobacco or health on Mar 23 in Singapore said legislators exerted pressure on him not to raise taxes making a 'false' argument about the bidi industry generating over 2.5 million employments.

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'Neutralise finance minister to win tobacco war'  

• Bid to make Tejgaon, Ramna smoke-free 

An Anti-Tobacco People's Forum was launched on Wednesday aiming to make capital's Tejgaon and Ramna smoke-free areas.

Member of the parliament from Dhaka-11 constituency (Tejgaon and Ramna) Asaduzzaman Khan will spearhead the 13-member committee that will work on creating awareness about the harms of smoking.

World Health Organisation suggests 100 percent smoke-free environment to tackle global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic lung diseases and diabetes that account for 60 percent of deaths.

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• Tobacco meet ends with call for action  

The 15th World Conference on 'Tobacco or Health' ended on Saturday with call to implement WHO tobacco control guidelines, which have been recognised as the 'best' basis of handling the menace.

The WHO guidelines - Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) - have details of how the countries can deal with growing threat of tobacco use by introducing pictorial warnings to imposing higher taxes.

The conference recommended to all governments to incorporate by 2015 tobacco control as a 'core' agenda in the country's non-communicable action plan and include public health protection clauses in all trade and investment agreements and treaties where tobacco needs to be 'explicitly' excluded.

Prof Harry Lando, co-chair of the International Liaison Group for Tobacco or Health, read out the declaration at a simple closing ceremony

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Bloomberg won't give in to tobacco industry  

Taifur Rahman, Bangladesh coordinator of CTFK, told bdnews24.com in Singapore that Bloomberg is the major financial source of Bangladesh's fight against tobacco.

"The renewed commitment will help us to carry out our programmes effectively," he said.

Various organisations and governments have been awarded the Bloomberg award for their implementation of at least one of WHO's 'MPOWER' policies.

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Take tobacco firms head-on: WHO  

• Tougher tobacco law plan botched  

Digging into the reasons that prompted the finance ministry to recall the draft which they themselves had endorsed in July last year, bdnews24.com found that British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) apparently convinced the finance minister just a day before the cabinet meeting to back away.

According to a finance ministry official, a delegation from the multinational tobacco giant met minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith and handed him a letter, a copy of which is available with bdnews24.com.

The letter argued that the government would lose out on revenue if the law was passed. . . .

The BATB in the letter claimed they pay over Tk 73.3 billion in revenue every year and also, together with local cigarette producers, employ 'thousands of people'.

But experts say the loss of jobs in the tobacco sector is not being caused by tobacco control measures but by the companies increasing their mechanisation endeavours to make productions go up and save money by enhancing efficiency, and reducing payments to farmers.

Dr Sohel Reza Chowdhury, organising secretary of United Forum Against Tobacco, a doctors' group, said the World Health Organisation in 2004 estimated that Bangladesh spend twice the money it earns from tobacco producers to treat tobacco-related illnesses.

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• Farmers turning tobacco growers  

Loans disbursed by tobacco companies and higher profits from tobacco farming are making more and more farmers turn to this sector, ignoring the health hazards of working in fields where these plants are cultivated.

"Even though I am suffering from various physical disorders including chest pain and breathing problems, I have to go to the tobacco field to work," Ghonapara village resident, 32-year old Mariam Begum told bdnews24.com.

She said that working at the tobacco fields earns her only around Tk 100 a day, but she has no other option, as farming of other crops is fast fading.

Haridas Roy, who is a labour for a tobacco mill in Tupamari, suffers similar ailments. "Even though my eyesight is getting weaker day by day and I am suffering from breathing problems, chest pain and insomnia, I have to continue working only to survive."

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Govt urged to clear tobacco control law 

Doctors have urged the government to pass the draft amendment of the tobacco control law to curb use of tobacco and related businesses in the interest of public health.

In the backdrop of nearly 57,000 annual deaths and 382,000 disabilities due to tobacco related illness, the government had started amending the 2005 law two years ago to make it 'stricter'. The idea was to help smokers give up, and deter youths from taking up the habit.

After completing all processes, the draft law was ready to be placed in a cabinet meeting in December last year. But the health ministry's deputy secretary, Azam-e-Sadat, who was assigned the task, said in a meeting late last year that the finance ministry had recalled the draft.

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Call to pass tobacco control law 

the government had started amending the 2005 law two years ago to make it 'stricter'. The idea was to help smokers give up, and deter youths from taking up the habit.

After completing all processes, the draft law was ready to be placed in a cabinet meeting in December last year. But the health ministry's deputy secretary, Azam-e-Sadat, who was assigned the task, said in a meeting late last year that the finance ministry had recalled the draft.

Addressing a seminar on 'tobacco and endangered public health' in the capital on Saturday, national professor brig Abdul Malik (retd) urged everyone to be "persistent" in order to realise the demand for a "stricter" tobacco control law.

United Forum Against Tobacco, a platform of doctors and professional bodies, organised the seminar.

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Smoking in a Bangalore hotel? Not anymore 

Non-smokers can breathe a sigh of relief. The reason: The Bruhat Bangalore Hotel Owners Association (BBHOA) has decided to implement the guidelines laid down by the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) regarding eateries and directed city-based hotels owners to restrict people from smoking inside hotels.

On the occasion of World Cancer Day on Saturday, the association decided to set up 'smoke-free zones' inhotels. According to COTPA (revised in 2008), smoking may be permitted only in smoking zones in restaurants, bars and pubs.

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• An addiction to tobacco 

Tobacco is a new crop in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. But it has been promoted actively. Hidden here is the tale.

Chittagong’s inhabitants are tribal people who have, for generations, practiced shifting cultivation or Jhum farming. The other set of farmers are the settlers who were brought in by the government from the plains of Bangladesh. They had little or no knowledge nor culture of farming.

Tobacco cultivation is strictly prohibited in CHT. Yet, tobacco companies are doing brisk business. Tobacco farming has been introduced by big business houses who have not only introduced the crop but also invested in the know how and the disseminating the package of practices that go with the crop. Besides, they motivate the farmers openly by offering incentives in cash and kind to cultivate tobacco.

The cultivation of tobacco not only poses a threat to the public health but also to the environment in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).

The forest cover of CHT also comes handy to process the tobacco and up to 70,000 metric tonnes of firewood are burnt in 2,000 tobacco processing kilns every year.

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• Amendment to tobacco control law demanded 

The Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance on Thursday demanded amendment to the tobacco control law in order to reduce diseases and deaths caused by tobacco consumption.

Leaders and activists of the alliance made the demand from a human chain in front of the faculty of fine arts in the capital.

They said, according to a survey conducted by the alliance, around 57,000 people died and 38,2000 contracted various diseases because of tobacco consumption.

The existing anti-tobacco law of 2005 was a positive step towards development of public health, but because of some loopholes in the law it could not take total effect on the people.

The cigarette companies, going against the clauses of the law, continued to find new techniques to attract people into smoking, they alleged.

A large chunk of the population is illiterate and so unable to understand the health awareness grounds.

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Is There Any Association between Use of Smokeless Tobacco Products and Coronary Heart Disease in Bangladesh? 

Conclusions

There was no statistically significant association between SLT use in general and CHD among non-smoking adults in Bangladesh. Further research on the association between gul use and CHD in Bangladesh along with SLT use and CHD in other parts of the subcontinent will guide public health policy and interventions that focus on SLT-related diseases.

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• Tobacco-related diseases kill 57,000 in BD a year 

Every year over 57,000 people die of tobacco related diseases in Bangladesh. Concerted efforts are needed to fight against diseases caused by tobacco, said speakers at a roundtable in the city Monday.

Tobacco consumption is still high in Bangladesh even after five years of passage of a Tobacco Control Act in Parliament. Adequate enforcement and the amendment to the Act are necessary to plug the loopholes to fight against tobacco menace.

Treatment cost for tobacco-related illness in the country is estimated at Tk 50.9 billion including Tk 5.8 billion for passive smoking, they mentioned.

The observation came at the roundtable on "Tuberculosis and Tobacco Control" at the VIP lounge of the National Press Club.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the country's leading financial daily The Financial Express jointly organised the roundtable.

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