GATS 2017 Analysis Fact sheet-English

Tobacco use in Bangladesh is in decline. In the last 8 years, the use of tobacco has seen an 18.5 percent relative decline. In 2009, the prevalence of tobacco use among 15 y/o and above stood at 43.3 percent which gradually decreased to 35.3 percent in 2017. The progress, overall, is satisfactory but not sufficient to make Bangladesh tobacco-free by 2040. The prevalence of tobacco use in the neighboring country, India has gradually decreased to 28.6 percent. 1 The percentage of smokers has decreased to an all-time –low 14 percent in the US as reported in 2018. 2 In France, more than 1 million people quit smoking last year. 3 So, given the progress made by some developed countries, or at least the neighboring country, the progress made by Bangladesh gets faded and eclipsed to a considerable extent. It should be noted that the use of tobacco causes around 161,000 deaths in Bangladesh a year. 4 It has been ranked as the fourth major contributing factors behind premature deaths in the country. 5 The financial loss incurred per year due to tobacco use exceeds BDT 158.6 billion. 6 Child health is also under threat because of tobacco use. A recent study conducted among school children of Dhaka has found out that 95 percent of school-going children have higher nicotine in their body which is undoubtedly a result of passive smoking. 7 Another study has revealed the excruciating fact that child laborers constitute 50-70 percent of bidi factories’ workforces.