T HE menace of tobacco engulfs seven million lives annually including 165,000 in Pakistan.
Ironically, however, tobacco is still accepted as a norm in our society. World No Tobacco Day, observed each year on May 31, is a stark reminder for all of us that we are lagging behind the rest of the world in our tobacco control efforts. The thematic focus of this year`s World No Tobacco Day was Tobacco and Heart Diseases. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) pose a grave public health concern as they kill more people than any other disease and according to WHO, and tobacco use is the foremost cause of deaths from CVDs.
Numerous countries have actively implemented measures to reduce the mammoth burden of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. These include increased taxation on tobacco products and a comprehensive ban on smoking in public places.
While we do have laws in place in Pakistan since 2002,no serious efforts have been made to implement them.
Cigarettes are still being sold at a very low cost in the country and even children can purchase them easily. Large-size pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs as a step to educate the consumers are still to be implemented. This in turn begets dangerous repercussions.
Eventually, a colossal share of foreign exchange is consumed in importing exorbitantly priced medicines required to treat diseases caused by tobacco.
Hence, it is vital that our decision makers realise that we have to protect public health as well as save foreign exchange by controlling the tobaccoepidemic by implementing tobacco control laws.
After all it is the constitutional duty of the state to protect the health of its citizens and sadly our government is f ailing in its duties.
