Tobacco Responsible for 1 in 5 Deaths in Bangladesh - WHO

Tobacco consumption, in any form, kills more than 161,000 people on average every year, amounting to around 19% of all deaths in Bangladesh, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The UN agency for global health released the statistics on Thursday on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day.

The day was observed around the world this year with the theme, “Tobacco attacks heart: Stay away, save lives,” demonstrating the link between tobacco and cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of deaths in the world.

According to WHO, cardiovascular diseases – heart-related conditions – are the top tobacco-related cause of death in Bangladesh, killing 66,749 people on average every year – a whopping 41% of all tobacco-related deaths in Bangladesh.

Another major reason for premature death in the country, cerebrovascular diseases – conditions that caused insufficient blood supply to the brain – cause 24% of tobacco-related deaths.

Other tobacco-induced reasons for death in Bangladesh are: chronic respiratory diseases causing 28% of deaths, cancers causing 20%, and communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases causing 6% of tobacco related deaths.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services, the number of patients visiting the outdoor department of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases increased by 41.3% between 2009 and 2016.

The number of tobacco users has been steadily on the rise in the country, said Prof Sohel Reza Chowdhury, head of the department of epidemiology and research at the National Heart Foundation in Dhaka.

Analyzing the news in the last 10 years, Poba found that every year during budget formulation in May-June, tobacco companies stage different programs demanding withdrawal of taxes on tobacco products.

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