"The Clock of Death" as part of anti-tobacco propaganda
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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A healthy lifestyle is very popular today, and many countries are making great efforts to combat widespread smoking. The spread of anti-tobacco advertising, in public catering establishments are increasingly prohibited from smoking, and the number of former smokers is growing every day. Residents of a small Asian country Bangladesh outperformed all who have ever engaged in social anti-tobacco advertising. In the central square of the capital of Bangladesh, a huge mechanical clock is installed, which shows not the time, but the number of deaths that occur due to smoking daily.
See also: 7 Ways to Quit Smoking
Bangladesh - a country in which there is almost the largest number of active smokers in the world. The so-called "hours of death" were established in order to awaken the consciousness of the smoking inhabitants of the country and to make them pay attention to the number of human lives carried away by an excessive passion for tobacco. Only in Bangladesh of lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases, more than fifty thousand people die annually.
Initiators of such an unusually social advertising were activists from a public organization that was directed to fight against smoking. The head of the organization believes that this watch will help pay attention to the problem of smoking not only of local residents, but also of influential political figures. The program aimed at the eradication of smoking will require the support of officials, so the hours will go until the next session of Parliament in late January.
Members of the organization to combat smoking sent a petition to Parliament to amend the law, which deals with the fight against tobacco smoking in public places. The petition is argued by the fact that due to the delay in this amendment and because of the residents' unconsciousness, more than one hundred human lives are lost daily. Social advertising, according to the organizers of the action, should awaken the responsibility of adult smokers and provoke a response from officials.
Among the population of the country, there are still fierce opponents of smoking tobacco. They explain their choice by trying to take care of their own health from their youth, do not consider the tobacco smell attractive, and smoking is a fashionable trend. Nevertheless, more than 55 percent of the male population of Bangladesh are active smokers. With the female sex, the situation is a little better, only 20-23 percent of women regularly smoke.
It has long been proven the harmful effects of tobacco smoke not only on immediate smokers, but also on those whom they surround. In such cases, young children and pregnant women suffer most. Members of the association that fights smoking believe that only by banning the government can prove their concern for a healthy nation. Health experts believe that the "clock of death" together with a petition to parliament to pass an amendment to the law and active anti-tobacco advertising will reduce the number of smokers in the country. In addition, it is planned to establish a ban on smoking in crowded places and a significant increase in the price of tobacco products.