It is high time to take action on these matters by implementing the WHO smoking cessation agreement
HYDERABAD: Smoking cafes continue to find space in Lahore, our cultural capital. Instead of prohibiting the use of smoking, the health authorities are promoting it by providing open spaces to smokers. Smoking not only damages one’s health but is also the sixth leading cause of deaths worldwide. What is more toxic is a closed environment where multiple people are smoking. Smoking not only negatively affects the smoker but also those around him. According to a recent report, in Pakistan the use of tobacco is increasing day by day and most of the deaths are caused due to smoking-related illnesses. As Pakistan is already lagging behind in providing basic healthcare to its inhabitants, it must not ignore the global standards of health and take measures to ban smoking at all public places and promote a healthy lifestyle through health awareness campaigns to fight the menace.
It is high time to take action on these matters by implementing the WHO smoking cessation agreement which asserts the fact that individuals need to throw away their cigarettes and other tobacco-based products.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has always shown himself as an ambassador of youth, must take strict action against those who are responsible for damaging the health of our youth which makes up approximately 68% of the country’s population.
Mahrukh Khalil
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2020.
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