RAWALPINDI: Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH), National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) and Child Rights Movement (CRM) jointly held a meeting of the Civil Society Alliance on the harms of Sugar sweetened Bavareges (SSB).Sana Ullah Ghumman, General Secretary (PANAH) , Afshan Tehseen Bajwa, Chairperson, NCRC and Zahra Naqvi, National Coordinator, CRM hosted the event which started with the recitation from the Holy Quran.Consultant Food Policy Program (GHAI) Munawar Hussain, Squadron Leader Ghulam Abbas, political, social, medical, legal experts, journalists, and others attended the meeting.
Sana Ullah Ghumman, General Secretary of PANAH, thanked the civil society and said that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the biggest cause of health burden in the world and children are the ones who are most affected by it.Their health is the responsibility of the government as well as parents and civil society. The WHO noted in 2016 that 41 million children under the age of 5 and over 340 million children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 19 were overweight or obese.This increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, orthopedic problems, osteoporosis, mental retardation and other diseases in children.Children who consume more than one or two sugary Sugar sweetened Bavareges (SSB ) a day have shorter sleep periods. In the light of various researches done in the world, the use of unnecessary things should be stopped.
Munawar Hussain, Consultant Food Policy Program (GHAI), briefed the participants on the dangers of Sugar sweetened Bavareges (SSB ) for children and the world’s policy to prevent them. Taxes are also a great tool to reduce the consumption of Sugar sweetened Bavareges (SSB) . Our government can also increase its revenue to protect people from diseases by imposing taxes.
Afshan Tehseen Bajwa, chairperson of the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, said that children are a stepping stone to success, if they are healthy then the country will develop.The National Commission on the Rights of the Child is working on children’s rights across the country and is in touch with the federation and the provinces.Laws made for children need to be strictly enforced, Sugar sweetened Bavareges (SSB) are the cause of diseases in children,We have to devise a strategy to keep them out of its reach. We will protect the health of our children by including our voice in the voice of PANAH on every platform, because this is the matter of future of Pakistan.
We are fighting for the rights of the children. Excessive consumption of Sugar sweetened Bavareges (SSB) is harmful to children,” said Hara Naqvi, National Coordinator of the Child Rights Movement.For the best development of children, it is important to prevent them from using such harmful substances that are causing diseases for the Children.Giving children a better future is also one of their rights, because these same children will take over the running of the country when they are young tomorrow.
At the end of the meeting, the participants of the Civil Society Alliance said that the health of children should be the first responsibility of the government.We urge the government to do its duty by enforcing the Sugar sweetened Bavareges (SSB) practice.