KARACHI: Representatives of civil society on Friday urged the government to implement the law on tobacco control and check the sale of tobacco products, especially near schools.

Tobacco brands were being sold near schools and school playgrounds, they noted while pointing out that the sale of cigarettes via single sticks had made tobacco products cheap and accessible to children and youth.

They expressed these views at an awareness session on tobacco control law, which was organised by Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) in coordination with District Implementation andMonitoring Committee (DIMC).

It was part of the NGO`s campaign `Let`s make Karachi smoke-free`.

During the consultation, the participants discussed sale of loose cigarettes, marketing and display of tobacco products, harms of second-hand and third-hand smoking and tobacco in other forms such as sheesha. They also shared their views to define the `public places` where smoking is prohibited under the law.

There was a general consensus among the participants that society`s failure in curbing consumption of tobacco products was owing to state`s lack of seriousness on the subject.

Talking about the laws on tobacco control, Karachi South Deputy Commissioner Irshad Ali Sodhar said Pakistan became a party to the World Health Organisation`s FrameworkConvention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in February 2005, while the federal law on tobacco control had already been introduced in 2002.

`It bans smoking at public places and in public transport. It also prohibits sale of tobacco products to children and in the vicinity of educational institutions. The law restricts tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorships,` Mr Sodhar said.

Sparc founder Anees Jillani highlighted that around 1,200 children took up smoking in the country on a daily basis. `There are over 23.9 million tobacco users in Pakistan. Of them, 125,000 are dying every year because of tobacco-induced diseases,` he said while sharing some stats with the audience.