Pakistanis spend Rs1.2bn on tobacco every year

[LahoreEstate]

A homeless lady smokes while attending a rally in Islamabad — APP photo.

KARACHI: Although tobacco is injurious to health, people in the country consume tobacco and its by-products worth Rs1.2 billion annually while the government has failed to take concrete steps to protect the masses from the health hazard involved in it.



This was pointed out by health professionals belonging to various medical organisations at a press briefing held on Friday at the Karachi Press Club in connection with World No Tobacco Day, being observed on May 31.



The briefing was organised under the aegis of the National Alliance for Tobacco Control.



The speakers called for effective tobacco control to save around 100,000 lives lost every year in the country to the diseases caused by tobacco use.



Dr Nadeem Rizvi, head of the JPMC chest diseases department, said that more than 50 per cent of deaths because of lung diseases could be prevented by eradicating smoking.



‘People have the right to smoke but no right to pose a threat to others,’ he said, and urged the government to increase cigarette prices to discourage smoking.



He noted that smoking alone cost the country Rs600 million spent every day by smokers and an equal amount was spent on other tobacco byproducts. ‘The health care cost in treating those afflicted by tobacco-related diseases is also a huge burden on the national exchequer,’ warned the doctor.



Prof Javaid Khan, head of the AKU pulmonary diseases section expressed concern over the rising trend of smoking among the youth of the country.



Quoting a survey, he pointed out that 24 per cent male and 16 per cent female college students in Karachi were found to be regular smokers. ‘Shisha smoking rate in the city’s youth is even higher, i.e. 48 per cent,’ he added.



The Pakistan government is a signatory to the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which binds every signatory to take strict anti-tobacco measures, including a complete ban on tobacco advertising and its promotion, implementation of smoking ban at all public places and increased taxation on tobacco products.



‘Sadly, our government is failing to fulfil these obligations,’ Dr Khan said.



Dr Aziz Khan Tank of the Pakistan Medical Association said that tobacco smoke pollution caused a number of diseases, including lung cancer, heart attacks, pneumonia and exacerbation of asthma.



He called for framing and effectively implementing comprehensive policies to curb smoking in order to ensure an improved public health, adding that smokers and other tobacco users must be motivated to quit the habit under such policies.

There should be a complete ban on smoking at all public places and in public transport vehicles, he stressed.



Prof Sohail Akhter, president of the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association, said that tobacco was responsible for almost 50 per cent of all cancer cases in the country yet smoking was still being advertised as something pleasurable, cool, glamorous and adventurous through the media.



He also criticised ‘indirect promotion of tobacco products’ in TV dramas. He demanded a comprehensive ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, as well sponsorship by tobacco firms of various events.



Dr Mosavir Ansari, Sindh president of the Pakistan Chest Society, and Eng Naveed Ahmed of the Quran Academy also spoke.



Later, the ‘National Guidelines for Smoking Cessation’ was launched by the Pakistan Chest Society. The literature has been endorsed by the federal health ministry, Cardiac Society, Cancer Society and Pakistan Medical Association

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