Experts concerned over increase in smoking

Islamabad: Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH), organised press conference entitled ‘Revenue from Tobacco at the Cost of Pakistani Youth’ to highlight the increase in net profit of tobacco industry as reported in the fiscal year of 2020-2021, which signifies increase in consumption of tobacco as well.

PANAH expressed its concern while stating tobacco consumption claims about 166,000 lives in Pakistan. It further added that according to WHO survey everyday about 1,200 children between the age of 6 and 15 start smoking in Pakistan.

At the event were present PANAH General Secretary Sana Ullah Ghumman, Country Head of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) Malik Imran, Correspondent of Society for Protection of the Rights of the Children (SPARC) Khalil Ahmad, representative of Human Development Foundation Ms Iram and Syed Bilal, PML-N Women Leaders and PP-16 General Secretary Nureen Masud Gelani, PP-16 Vice President Sami Nadeem, Farhat Batool, Representatives of World Health Organization, medical and legal experts, and media professionals.

Sana Ullah Ghumman, general secretary, PANAH said that tobacco is very harmful to health and its regular use is a major cause of heart, cancer and other deadly diseases. It is a matter of concern for 1200 children between the ages of 6 and 15 to start smoking daily.

Malik Imran, of CTFK, said that the future of our children is being ruined, smoking has become a social evil, the government is spending on tobacco related diseases, laws for tobacco have become ineffective, if Calling the annual net profit of the tobacco industry “blood money” would be pointless.