Open AccessChallenges and opportunities for tobacco control in the Islamic countries-a case-study from Bangladesh
Author(s) -
Nazar Ul Islam
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
eastern mediterranean health journal/eastern mediterranean health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1687-1634
pISSN - 1020-3397
DOI - 10.26719/1995.1.2.230
Subject(s) - islam , consumption (sociology) , tobacco control , cigarette smoking , addiction , tobacco use , smoking prevention , environmental health , muslim world , political science , medicine , smoking cessation , geography , public health , sociology , social science , population , psychiatry , nursing , archaeology , pathology
Cigarette consumption is rapidly increasing in all Muslim countries. In Muslim countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, cigarette consumption has increased by 224% between 1963 and 1990. In Bangladesh, approximately 60 to 70 per cent of adult males and 20 to 30% of adult females consume tobacco in some form or other. The fact that tobacco has been accepted as an addictive substance, is a reminder that in Islam it is strictly forbidden; and smoking should not be considered normal behaviour in a Muslim society. Muslim countries thus have both the scientific evidence and Islamic teachings as two powerful instruments in their fight against tobacco, which if properly used, can bring success