HARIPUR: Speakers at an awareness session on Saturday emphasised the need to identify major sources of lead contamination and called for adopting measures to prevent its spread through public awareness about its harmful consequences.
Haripur Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI), the tehsil municipal administration and civil society organisations organised the session on the toxic effects of lead and its hazardous impact on human health.
It educated students and the business community about the harmful effects of lead exposure and encouraged collaborative efforts to build a safer, healthier, and pollutionfree society.
Presentations by medical and environmental experts highlighted the toxic effects of lead, the serious health risks associated with lead exposure, and the various medical complications it can cause.
The experts told the participants that lead contamination was a significant public health concern, especially among children, not only in Pakistan but worldwide.
The speakers emphasised the urgent need to identify the major sources of lead contamination, prevent its spread, and raise public awareness about its harmful consequences.
They also stressed the importance of adopting preventive measures and taking collective action to protect communities from this hazardous form of pollution.
Unicef and the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination released a joint study, ‘Lead Levels in Pakistan Pose Toxic Threat to Children’, in January this year.
The study revealed that it sampled over 2,100 children aged 12-36 months living in high-risk industrial areas in Haripur, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, and Rawalpindi, but the children in Hattar, Haripur were the most affected, where 88pc had high levels of lead in their blood.
‘Lead exposure can stunt growth, cause anaemia, and weaken the immune system, while also lowering IQ, reducing attention span, and impairing memory, raising the risk of learning difficulties and behavioural problems,’ the report says.