Smokeless tobacco is very popular in Bangladesh. The most used smokeless tobacco products are Zarda, Sadapata, Khoyer and Gul. Gifting betel leaf with betel nut with Zarda and Khoyer is a valued tradition during weddings in our country. In many families, both in urban and rural areas, it is a tradition among the elderly members to consume betel leaf several times every day. In shops across the country, a tobacco product known as Gul is sold at a cheap price alluring the poor class to buy them for cleaning teeth and also for healing or lessening toothache. Once a person is addicted to gul, he/she cannot give it up despite it is being injurious to health. The same happens in the case of Sadapata, often used as an alternative to Zarda.
All these smokeless tobacco products are very harmful for our health. They are as harmful as cigarettes. Chewing tobacco with paan (betel leaf) is a custom in the country. So, its harmful effect does not usually get much attention in the campaign against tobacco. Chewing tobacco causes oral and pancreatic cancer, among many other health problems.
Every year, around 161,200 people are killed by tobacco-induced diseases. Tobacco causes death about one in every five in the country. A large number of people are addicted only to smokeless tobacco products. So, the authorities concerned should launch their anti-tobacco campaigns keeping also smokeless tobacco products in mind and do the needful.
Afroza Sheikh,
Dania, Dhaka,
ilcbd2008@gmail.com