A Survey on Passive Smoking among Bangladeshi Population

Abstract

Secondhand smoke (SHS), the smoke generated by active smokers, remains a widespread health hazard worldwide. Smoking is a chemical toxicosis which is able to cause detrimental effects either of acute or chronic type on different structures of the body being some of these like cardiovascular system, respiratory system and epithelial glands target organs. The aim of this study was to find out the knowledge about passive smoking and its harmful effects among general people of Bangladesh. The general people, both smokers and non smokers were the study population. The total number of study population was 703 where the rickshaw puller, tea stall manager, pharmacy worker and labor from both rural and urban area participated in the study, Among the participants 97% were male and only 3% female, majority of whom were from rural area. Not only non-smokers but also smokers felt bothered in passive smoke. About 56% respondents said SHS cause severe health problem and about 37% said that it causes minor problem. According to the respondents tea stall is the major area where people get exposed to second hand smoke and exposure also occur due to no restriction were present in the exposure area. In the most (92%) cases there were no restriction. Most of the study population supported anti-smoking initiatives. Government campaigns and policies now need to focus on reducing SHS exposure in settings of Bangladesh in order to reduce the health hazards of SHS.