Second-hand Tobacco Smoke (ETS) – Findings of an Australian Case Study and How Dhaka can reap the Benefit from the Research Outcome.

Abstract

Smoking / ETS kills, prime reason for cancer, asthma, other lung diseases and other deadly diseases. It is diagnosed as the greatest silent killer on earth. Smoking has no positive contribution to human health or to the environment. It affects almost all organs of the body, leading to carcinogenic diseases and ending in premature mortality. Infants and children are most at risk. Although the overall smoking trend is slowly declining but smoking rate among students and young adults (both men and women) are disturbingly increasing in Australia despite strong collaborative efforts of public and private sector to curb tobacco smoking. Exposure to smoking is a violation of the right of all individuals to breathe clean air. Although people can’t be forced to quit smoking, but regulation can be tightened, and strict enforcement of law would be a good deterrent for smokers. Australia has banned tobacco smoking in all public places and Bangladesh government could follow that noble initiative. In addition, community engagement, awareness building through education, accompanied by punishing smoking / ETS producers with hefty fines. Bangladesh unfortunately belongs among the top five smoking nation on earth. About 43% of people smokes and in the long run it will bring catastrophic consequences. Currently there are about 1.5 million cancer patients and about 3 30 million kidney patients and growing. A major contributor is tobacco and ETS. Unless urgent measures are taken the country will be flooded with patients with incurable diseases, a burden the country can’t afford to handle.