Smoking is not only responsible for causing cancer and some other diseases, but is also behind the burning down of thousands of shops, houses and other establishments every year in Dhaka and other parts of the country.
After electrical short-circuits, cigarettes are the second leading cause behind frequent fires in Bangladesh. In 2023, at least 27,624 fire incidents took place in the country. Out of the incidents, 4,419 were caused by cigarettes. This is 16 percent of total fire incidents in the year and the highest in the last five years.
Farhana Zaman Liza, a researcher on tobacco control and programme manager of Tobacco Control and Research Cell (TCRC) of Dhaka International University, provided the information to this correspondent of Bangladesh Post.
She presented a keynote paper on tobacco control issue at an event on Thursday at the conference room of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra in the capital where she touched on some other points regarding tobacco and its harmful impact.
According to the report published in the event, 40.7 percent of the restaurants in Dhaka have designated areas for smoking. Of these, 8.6 per cent sell cigarettes in restaurants. These places are constantly being developed with the help of tobacco companies.
Worryingly, 23.5 percent of these restaurants have children’s play areas and only 4.9 per cent have breastfeeding corners. As a result, they are also fatally exposed to smoking indirectly.
The study also found five per cent of cigarette users in designated smoking areas were 15 to 18 years old and 60 per cent were 18 to 25 years old. It can be said that the smoking zones in restaurants are aimed at young people.
The study also found that 45.5 percent of restaurants do not have adequate fire extinguishing systems.
A total of 81 restaurants were selected for this study. Out of which 33 restaurants have smoking areas.
The study recommends removing all designated smoking areas from restaurants that pose a threat to public safety, prioritizing public health in restaurants, replacing smoking zones with good washrooms, small libraries, children’s play areas, and making breastfeeding corners.
The study also recommends a ban on smoking in restaurants.
Expressing anger, experts on public health and tobacco control activists at the event said that in such a situation, some restaurant owners are turning restaurants into risk depots for cigarette fires. Since cooking is done in restaurants, there are multiple gas cylinders. However, many restaurants in Dhaka city and other cities and towns have AC. The Dhaka Bailey Road fire on February 29 shows how a lit cigarette can make a situation worse in an instant, they said.
The TCRC, Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust (WBB Trust), AID Foundation, Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance (BATA), Bangladesh Network for Tobacco Tax Policy (BNTTP), Development Activities of Society (DAS), Association for the Prevention of Drug Abuse (MANAS), National Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Bangladesh (NATAB) and Gram Bangla Unnoyon Committee jointly arranged the event to release a research report titled ‘Smoking Zones in Restaurants: Threat to Public Health’.
Valiant Freedom Fighter Professor Dr Arup Ratan Chowdhury, president of MANAS, presided over the event, while Md. Bazlur Rahman, an associate professor at Dhaka International University and project director of TCRC delivered the welcome speech.
Moderated by Hamidul Islam Hillol, project manager of Bureau of Economics Research (BER) at Dhaka University, the event was addressed, among others, by Hossain Ali Khandaker, former coordinator of the National Tobacco Control Cell (NTCC); Professor Dr. Golam Mohiuddin Faruque, president of Bangladesh Cancer Society; Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin, senior technical advisor at Vital Strategies; Fahimul Islam, technical advisor at Vital Strategies; Shahidul Islam, station officer (head office) of Fire Service and Civil Defense; Iqbal Masud, director of Dhaka Ahsania Mission; Gaous Pearee, director at WBB Trust; and Aminul Islam Bakul of DAS. Fahmida Islam, STOP Bangladesh Focal Point; and other anti-tobacco activists gave their opinions at the event.
The speakers said that after Covid-19 situation, smoking zones are being established inside restaurants in Dhaka with the help of multinational cigarette companies. The main objective of which is to attract the new generation to smoking and make cigarettes accessible to people. As a result, non-smokers are also affected by the smoking zones.
They also said that this type of smoking zone in the restaurant is not only the cause of indirect smoking, but also has the possibility of causing serious accidents like fire. As a result public safety is being hampered in the restaurants, they said.
