Chest specialists in Bangladesh called for smoking and tobacco to be given up and air pollution brought under control to protect people's lungs, at a World Lung Day roundtable organised by the respiratory medicine department of Evercare Hospital Dhaka at a city hotel on Sunday.

This year's theme was "A Lifetime of Lung Health". The roundtable, held with the Chest and Heart Association of Bangladesh and Aristopharma, opened with a keynote by Dr S M Abdullah Al Mamun, senior consultant and coordinator of respiratory medicine at Evercare.

Speakers said breathing polluted air day after day does serious damage to the lungs, so lung health needs attention at every stage from childhood to old age. E-cigarettes and vaping are harmful to the lungs as well as conventional tobacco, they said, and their use should stop, with steps to curb the spread of other nicotine products.

They advised that lung disease be diagnosed and treated quickly, and said the media has an important role in getting accurate, reliable health information to the public.

Panellists included Chest and Heart Association president Dr Md Zahirul Islam Shakil, National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital director Dr Golam Sarwar Liaquat Hossain Bhuiyan, DGHS additional director general (planning and development) Prof Dr Foara Tasmim, Dhaka Medical College Hospital respiratory medicine head Prof Dr Adnan Yusuf Chowdhury and Bangladesh Medical University respiratory medicine chairman Prof Dr Shamim Ahmed.

Source: Desh Rupantor