‘Tobacco killing youth’

Rawalpindi : Civil Society has demanded the government to withdraw the legal status of heated tobacco products.

They demanded the government not to give licence tobacco industry to kill Pakistanis. We will go to any extent to save our people, said Dr. Samina Matloob.

The tobacco industry is putting people to death for their own interests, Dr. Ziauddin. This was said in a media session organised by Pakistan National Heart Association (Panah) at a local hotel in Islamabad. Panah Secretary General Sanaullah Ghumman hosted the event. Member of the National Assembly, Dr. Samina Matloob, was the chief guest of the event.

Dr. Samina Matloob said in her address that 66.5 per cent of deaths caused by tobacco are caused by tracheal, bronchus and lung cancer, 53.2 per cent of deaths are due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 21.9 per cent of deaths are due to ischemic heart disease, 15.2 per cent of deaths are due to diabetes mellitus, and it causes 16.8 per cent deaths. Giving concession to heated tobacco would be tantamount to facilitating the destruction of public health, the government should withdraw this decision. Tobacco use costs the national exchequer billions of rupees annually. The government will go to any extent to protect the health of its people

Sanaullah Ghumman said that Panah has been working to save its people for the last 40 years and tobacco industry is always using new tactics to kill our people. Currently, the largest segment of the tobacco products market is cigarettes with a volume of 1,526 million dollars. 19.1 per cent of adults (over 15 years of age) currently use tobacco in any form. Among them, 31.8 per cent are males and 5.8 per cent are females. 12.4 per cent of adults smoke. 7.7 per cent use smokeless tobacco. 3 per cent use a pipe (hookah or shisha). About 40 per cent of youth who have ever smoked tried cigarettes before age 10.