Think before spitting

We are aware about the implicit harms of human saliva thrown at any open place. We all are doing this each and everyday. So, it is time we thought about this habit.

Human saliva can bear huge germs of tuberculosis (TB), pneumonia, influenza, hepatitis, viral meningitis, glandular fever, and bronchitis. That is why the air-borne diseases are spreading in the areas where spitting is a common habit of people. India, China, and Bangladesh are all in the same boat regarding these diseases. According to WHO's TB Report, Bangladesh is one of the countries of 30 world's mostly tuberculosis-affected lands. In India, scholars are indicating that one of every 70 people is a tuberculosis patient.

International health practitioners are calling the habit of spitting here and there as an act of vandalism. Vandalism is to harm the public property. So, human property like health is being hazardous by this bad habit. The UK's National Health Services (NHS) has termed this habit most unhygienic and illegal.

In Saudi Arabia, if a person spits on roads s/he will be fined 150 Riyals. Bangladesh has no such anti-spitting law or policy.

Experiencing the severity of the air-borne diseases, every country is emphasising the enactment of anti-spitting laws and strict policies. The virus-contaminated diseases can be controlled on being aware and by making others aware of the risks.

Muhammd Mustafiz

MSS Student

University of Dhaka

[email protected]