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"Death Clock" as part of anti-smoking propaganda
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
Healthy lifestyle is very popular today and many countries are making great efforts to combat widespread smoking. Anti-smoking advertising is widespread, smoking is increasingly banned in public catering establishments, and the number of former smokers is growing every day. Residents of the small Asian country of Bangladesh have outdone everyone who has ever been involved in social anti-smoking advertising. In the central square of the capital of Bangladesh, there is a huge mechanical clock that shows not the time, but the number of deaths that occur due to smoking every day.
Read also: 7 Ways to Quit Smoking
Bangladesh is a country with almost the largest number of active smokers in the world. The so-called "death clock" was established to awaken the consciousness of the country's smoking residents and make them pay attention to the number of human lives taken by the excessive passion for tobacco. In Bangladesh alone, more than fifty thousand people die annually from lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases.
The initiators of such an unusual social advertisement were activists from a people's organization aimed at combating smoking. The head of the organization believes that these watches will help draw attention to the problem of smoking not only among local residents, but also among influential political figures. The program aimed at eradicating smoking will require the support of officials, so the watch will run until the next session of parliament at the end of January.
Members of the anti-smoking organization have sent a petition to parliament to amend the law that deals with the fight against smoking tobacco in public places. The petition is based on the argument that due to the delay in this amendment and due to the lack of awareness of residents, more than a hundred human lives are lost every day. According to the organizers of the action, social advertising should awaken the responsibility of adult smokers and cause a response from officials.
There are still ardent opponents of tobacco smoking among the country's population. They explain their choice by the fact that they have been trying to take care of their own health since their youth, do not consider the smell of tobacco attractive, and smoking a fashionable trend. Nevertheless, more than 55 percent of the male population of Bangladesh are active smokers. The situation is a little better with the female sex, only 20-23 percent of women smoke regularly.
The harmful effects of tobacco smoke not only on direct smokers, but also on those around them, have long been proven. Small children and pregnant women suffer the most in such cases. Members of the association that fights smoking believe that only by banning it will the government be able to prove its concern for a healthy nation. Health experts believe that the "death clock" together with a petition to parliament to adopt an amendment to the law and active anti-smoking advertising will be able to 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 prices of tobacco products.