On the occasion Karachi Press Club President Imtiaz Khan Faran said that media is a tool of change and in recent past it had played a strong role in bring positive change in the society. He highlighted the crucial role of anti-smoking campaign reducing the health risks in schools and colleges. We have been working with civil society to increase the taxes on tobacco products to condemn the smoking habits in youngsters. There are laws to control tobacco sales for minors to promote the healthy lifestyles. He assured his support to enforcement of the law.
Kashif Mirza, the Project Manager, who was also moderating orientation, presented the facts of tobacco and law related to the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-smokers Health Ordinance, 2002, which includes measures to stop people from smoking on public, ban on access to tobacco products near educational institutes and restriction on sale of cigarettes to those who are under 18.
Youth and women are the prime targets of tobacco industry as findings from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey revealed that 13.3 percent boys and 6.6 percent girls (aged 13-15 years) currently use tobacco, he said adding that estimates show over 160,000 people die of tobacco-related diseases per year in Pakistan.
The loss of revenues due to introduction of the third tier (low tobacco taxes) is Rs77.85 billion rupees from 2016 to 2019. Loss of revenues due to price adjustments is Rs75 billion from 2018 to 2019. Professor Dr Farah Iqbal, the Chairperson of Psychology Department at the University of Karachi, said that cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals - over 50 of which are known to be toxic in nature. Smoking is associated with a host of other risky behaviours.