IT is good to know that the government is contemplating to increase the prices of cheap cigarettes in the upcoming budget as it will help reduce the spread of tobacco in the society. The cheap brands of cigarettes encourage common people to take up this bad habit which is difficult to get rid of. Tobacco kills around 6 million people around the world and the number is really staggering. Near 80 per cent of smokers live in the developing world. Tobacco destroys our health. When we smoke, we also create dangers for the people who live around us. If we love our family and children, we must not smoke tobacco. Tobacco increases the cost of healthcare and puts additional burden on the national economy. Passive smoking is also harmful for the people who inhale the air. Cigarette has 4000 harmful chemicals and more than 50 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer. I hope the education ministry will include a chapter on tobacco menace in the school text books so that young people can realize the deadly impact of tobacco on our health and keep the students away from its deadly influence.
All of us should take a united stand against tobacco and help the government to formulate necessary laws so that people are compelled to abstain from smoking tobacco.
Imran Aziz
Niketon, Dhaka
