ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a seminar expressed their concern over prevalence of smoking among children as 1,200 of them take up smoking every day in Pakistan.

They also called for enforcement of strict health and safety practices in the tobacco cultivation industry, where the incidence of nicotine poisoning remains high.

The seminar on `World No Tobacco Day` was organised by Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) at a local hotel.

They said it was important to build asuccessful campaign that creates a consensus aimed at discouraging tobacco-use at source.

Riaz Fatyana, Chairman Standing Committee on Law and Justice said Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved a plan to increase taxes on the cigarette manufacturing industry in the upcoming budget for 2019-20 in a bid to enhance revenue collection and discourageits use.

He said the prime minister also gave goahead for imposing health tax of Rs10 per pack of cigarette and earnings from that would be used by the health ministry on welfare projects.

He further shared that the prime minister also gave approval to rolling back the third slab offederalexcise dutyintroduced by the PML-N government, which brought down the duty and led to reduction of billions of rupees in revenue collection.

MNA Romina Khursheed Alam said there was a need to enforce strict policies against selling tobacco to children.

Moreover, she said, there was a need toincrease tax on tobacco products, which discourages young people from smoking.

Malik Imran from Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, appreciated the prime minister`s decision to impose health tax of Rs10 on per pack of cigarette, approval for rolling back the third slab of federal excise dutyintroducedby thelastgovernment and his commitment regarding health of people.

Sajjad Ahmad Cheema, Executive Director, SPARC said it was appreciable that the government had given a go-ahead to introduce stringent reforms against tobacco use. One will have to wait to see whether action is actually taken.

`Around eight million people around the world die each year due to tobacco smoking and around 80pc of the world`s 1.1 billion smokers suffer from cardiovascular and respiratory problems. An estimated 1,200 children tal(e up smoking every dayin Pakistan.

`Moreover, the enforcement of strict health and safety practices in the tobacco cultivation industry in Pakistan is alsoessential, where the incidence of nicotine poisoning remains high. What is important is to build a successful campaign that creates a consensus that discourages tobacco use at source,` he said.

Retired Colonel Azhar Saleem, CEO Human Development Foundation (HDF), said Pakistan is the 8th largest tobacco growing country in the world and produced about 116,016 tons of tobacco.

There is no provision in current law for estimating, monitoring and regulating the contents ofcigarettes.

Furthermore, he said, there was no laboratory available in the country to monitor and evaluate the contents of cigarettes.

These cigarettes contain the significant levels of chemicals and nicotine, its combustion in the presence of paper of cigarettes further increases its hazards.

Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, cause many diseases and reduces the health of smokers in general. Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause ofdeath.