ISLAMABAD: General (Retd) Ashraf Khan, patron of Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAHA), has said the main objective of PANAH is to alleviate the suffering of the people by raising awareness about heart diseases,
For which, he added, PANAH have been working for the last 37 years.
Ashraf Khan said “Our efforts are underway with law and policy makers to prevent the risk of serious diseases, including heart disease”.
Mr khan said “It is the duty of the people and law-making bodies to eradicate the root causes of deadly diseases”.
He was addressing a special meeting of the “Civil Society Alliance” with General Secretary Sana Ullah Ghumman at a local hotel.
General Secretary and Director Operations Sana Ullah Ghumman said that we have been working for 37 years to save lives and build a healthy society.If the causes of complex diseases including heart disease are not prevented, the economic burden will increase further., Which neither the people nor the government can afford. Research by various research organizations, including the World Health Organization, has shown that tax enforcement is an effective way to reduce consumption.
In this regard, the Social Policy and Development Center (SPDC) report released last week made it clear that if FED is not increased, the consumption of cigarette packs will reach 115 million. Adult smoking will increase to 272,000, 95,000 deaths will increase and the revenue will be able to reach only Rs 9.9 billion with a very small amount.
He said that consumption of cigarette packets to be reduced by 109 million,220,000 smokers will be reduced and future smokers will be reduced
According to Mr Ghuman 77,000 people will be spared from being targeted by cigarettes and the government’s revenue will increase by Rs 30.3 billion annually.This proves that the implementation of FED will help in reducing deaths and increasing revenue.
Senior members of PANAH and other distinguished guests said that they are with him in the noble cause of PANAH.
