Abrar Hussain: Tobacco users have declined significantly in Bangladesh in the last eight years, according to a new survey that highlights the success of anti-tobacco measures.
Health Minister Mohammed Nasim unveiled a factsheet of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) 2017 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the US yesterday, reported BDNews.

It showed that the consumption rate among the population aged 15 and above have dropped to 35.3% in 2017 from 43.3% in 2009 when the first GATS was performed.

The reduction was mostly among men – 46% down from 58%. Among women, it was reduced to only 25.2% from 28.7% as the smokeless tobacco which women mostly chew did not decrease, compared to smoking products.

However, experts warned against complacency as there are several examples in the world about tobacco consumption rising after an initial decline. They have also expressed concern regarding Japan Tobacco’s entry in Bangladesh.