Smoking kills over 61,000 people each year in Pakistan
PESHAWAR
Representatives of various civil society organizations have demanded of the provincial government to allocate adequate resources in the upcoming financial year to reduce the demand for tobacco and ensure protection of the public from the smoking epidemic which kills more than 61,000 people each year in the country.
Speaking at a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club here on Tuesday, the provincial alliance of Anti-Smoking Organizations Zaratasha Abid, program officer Blue veins, psychologist Amara Iqbal, Zahoor Ahmed shared that the tobacco is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. They added that it kills 61,000 people a year in Pakistan and around 23 million are currently addicted to tobacco smoking in the country.
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should devise a pragmatic plan at the provincial level to help and support people who quit smoking and to provide the necessary resources in this regard and to include this in the upcoming fiscal year budget,” they urged.
Zaratasha Abid said that Pakistan has ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Convention on Tobacco Control since 2005 and a number of important steps have been taken by the provincial government of KP the scope of preventive measures need to be expanded and relevant laws must be implemented to protect the public from tobacco smoking.
Civil society organizations demanded that government-sponsored plans to support people who quit smoking should be launched in the province.
They said that the mutual cooperation between social organizations and government institutions is very important for curbing the menace of smoking.
The KP government and the provincial health department should devise an effective mechanism and required resources should be mobilized in upcoming ADP for controlling mortalities from smoking in the province, Zaratasha added.
Civil society members urged the provincial government for help those individuals who quit smoking. They added that tobacco smoking has turned into a pandemic across the country and timely steps needed to control its further spread among men, women and children.
