NBF becomes smoke-free

Islamabad :The National Book Foundation (NBF) was declared a smoke-free zone here Tuesday as part of ongoing efforts to rid Islamabad of the menace of tobacco smoking.

Speaking as chief guest at an orientation session organised at NBF in collaboration with the Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD), the Secretary of National History and Literary Heritage Division, Aamir Hasan spoke about the “horrible evil” that tobacco is, and the need to save Pakistan’s future generations by adopting concrete measures at all levels. “No matter how you smoke it, tobacco is dangerous for health; there are no safe substances in any tobacco product,” he added.

The Managing Director of NBF Dr. Inam–Ul-Haq Javaid said, CA&DD has taken the initiative of ‘Tobacco Smoke-Free Islamabad’ to end this epidemic in the capital and NBF has been given an opportunity of making its facility tobacco-smoke during this drive. “There is no denying the fact that quitting is difficult but then, it is in your own interest,” he said, assuring the support of NBF with government functionaries, particularly with CA&DD, to make Islamabad’s environment smoke-free.

This orientation session was organized under the World Health Organization’s theme this year ‘Tobacco: A Threat to Development. A large number of writers, scholars, NBF Book Ambassadors and people from various walks of life attended the event.