Experts at a programme in the city on Thursday observed that Bangladesh authorities hardly take any policy measures to regulate various unhealthy foods and other risk factors responsible for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), except for awareness building campaign.
The government has neither any guideline to control salt and sugar use and for providing stickers in the packaging label to indicate the standard of the foods to protect public health nor takes any visible measures to create healthy environment, develops other infrastructures by which people can maintain healthy lifestyle - clean air, footpaths, parks, open space, they remarked.
They also noted that the rate of premature death in Bangladesh is 20-24 per cent, between 30 and less than 70 years of age; and about 62 per cent of them die from ischemic heart disease.
Dietary risk has increased 34 per cent over the past 15 years.
The experts also viewed that the government always shifts liabilities of creating bad lifestyle to people shedding its responsibility whereas lifestyle does not depend on a person.
They were addressing a media workshop on Non-Communicable Diseases held at National Heart Foundation (NHF) auditorium in the city.
NHF chairman National Professor Brig (Retd) Abdul Malik made the welcome speech.
NHF head of department of epidemiology and research Professor Dr Sohel Reza Choudhury made the keynote presentation.
Dr Sohel said South Asian people, especially Bangladeshis, maintain the worst kind of lifestyle leading themselves to more risks of cardiovascular diseases. Another risk factor for NCD-related death is chronic mental illness.
He also said arsenic exposure has become another threat for increased NCD as people get exposed to arsenic through food chain which is grown by irrigating arsenic-contaminated water.
He added many countries across the world have been able to reduce the NCD burden by taking right actions whereas it is increasing alarmingly in Bangladesh.
Answering questions of media, Dr Sohel said it has been mentioned in the multi-sectoral action plan to reduce use of salt.
But there is no specific guideline or policy on how to control and discourage overuse of salt to protect people from NCDs.
Same thing is applicable for sugar, Dr Sohel said, adding: people in developed countries have to pay sugar surcharge for consuming any sugary coke; but they pay less for diet coke which is sugar free.
Besides, there is front of package labeling where all the ingredient proportion is mentioned and the standard of that food is indicated by green, red or orange stickers, he said.
"This way people get discouraged and change behaviour by seeing the high price of a harmful food and red stickers. We all know which are the risk factors but there is no action from the policymakers to regulate these except for awareness campaign," said Dr Sohel.
It is the duty of the government to set the standard level of salt and sugar use in the food, which should be executed by BSTI and Bangladesh Safe Food Authority, Dr Sohel said. But they do not discharge their responsibilities, he added.
Associate Professor Dr Khaliquzzaman of the department of public health and informatics said it is difficult for an adult to change behaviour. But if the process of healthy lifestyle starts from primordial stage, it is easy for a person to avoid hazardous foods and unhealthy practices which will cause NCDs.
"Lifestyle is not the liability of the person only. The government always shed its responsibility by shifting its own duty to ensure healthy environment and other relevant factors which will help people maintain healthy lifestyle," he said.
Brig Malik said 67 per cent of the total deaths in Bangladesh occur from NCDs and 30 per cent of them are due to cardiovascular diseases and 13 per cent due to cancer.
If Bangladesh wants to develop human resources, importance has to be given to education and health.
Besides, healthy human resource is necessary for economic development, he added.
"If we cannot prevent NCDs, sick people will be working with less productivity by next 40 years. They will also increase economic burden," said Brig Malik, adding: establishing hospitals will not solve the problems of NCDs.
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