Hopkins-Communication Initiative on Ban Tobacco Promoting by the children engagement in Bangladesh

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) and Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) jointly hosted Tobacco Control and Ban Promotion system capacity building programs in Bangladesh that integrated with workshop, seminar, training, research and more possible ways.

This program is also supported by the Johns Hopkins Family Foundation and few international organizations are like WHO and others. For kind information, Johns Hopkins was a Quaker believer, American entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and abolitionist. BCCP-JHSPH are providing capacity building programs on the following issues; monitor tobacco industry activities; protect people from tobacco smoke; warn about the dangers of tobacco through mass media campaigns and health warning labels; enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; raise taxes on tobacco.

Image: Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) head office at Mirpur 11, Dhaka- Bangladesh.

In the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th November 2013 BCCP-JHSPH held a workshop on Capacity Building of Message Development on Tobacco Control in Bangladesh that how an assign project can reach on the proper implementation stage and actual message to the targeted audience (targeted populations) and beneficiaries. The workshop focused on the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2013 (Act No. 16 of 2013) in Bangladesh. 23 participators that they were University Students, Professor, NGOs workers, Television personnel from different organizations as such Alliance for Cooperation and Legal Aid Bangladesh (ACLAB), Bangladesh University of Health Sciences (BUHS), Channel I (tv), University of Dhaka, NATAB, Ahsania Mission Dhaka, PADMA and etc are attended into the workshop.

Image: Participators in the workshop; Kazi Rumana Ahmed Lopa from Channel I, Jahidul Islam Jahid from ACLAB and others.

Dr. Nazrul Haque, Senior Deputy Director & Team Leader of Tobacco Control Program, an elder wise expert is operated the most of the sessions during the four days workshop. Dr. Haque sectioned out the 7th law of BAN ON SELLING TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO A MINOR, ETC.: which is described “No person shall sale tobacco or tobacco products to any person under the age of eighteen, or engage or cause to be engaged any such person in the marketing or distribution of tobacco or tobacco products.”

He recommends to supporting for education to enhance a better future for children instead of engaging in tobacco. Mr. Haque said; we should reach with such message to our targeted audience and beneficiaries whatever are believable & possible in general view & commonsense. We shall promote the education for all of our beneficiaries (the children are engaging in tobacco).

Image: Participators in the workshop; Farhana Haque Ovi from Environment Council Bangladesh and others.

Khadija Bilkis, another senior official of BCCP said; Reality is that; we found from our experiences, many a times the assignment or project objectives reach to the maximum 2% to 3% of targeted audience or beneficiaries, even after followed by all procedures before start the assignment or project.

Dr. Haque pointed the quotation; If we are 20 consultants became consensuses on a decision in the room, the assignment may not work in the field, because we all are higher educated but to whom we designed the project are illiterate and lower educated. So, it should be kept in your mind. In the pre-test period, let the audiences are always right because for whom the project are designed, we should be prioritized them and their choice.

The main objective of the workshop was Capacity building on message development to rightly reach to the targeted audience that is very important for any of assignment. Because many a theory in the world transformed to the fact only for peoples believes, when peoples believe a message they act likely to the ways. So, whatever messages reveal should be believable to the mass peoples.