Rawalpindi: Sana Ullah Ghumman General Secretary of the Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH), has said smokers were more likely than non-smokers to be at risk of losing their lives.Tobacco and Covid 19 both affect the lungs. Ghumman said smoking is a major cause of complex diseases such as heart, lung, kidney and cancer.The Government should implement health levy to get rid of the real dangers to human health.
The important meeting of the Civil Society Alliance held in Rawalpindi to highlighted the harmful effects of smoking and the benefits of implementing health Levy. Members of PANAH, Civil Society, Kidney Welfare Association, Nijat Trust, Fatima Malik Trust, Nation Development Organization, lawyers, doctors and others specially participated in this occasion.
Talking to reporters, Sana Ullah Ghumman, General Secretary said that PANAH has been raising awareness on the factors affecting the health of the people for the last 36 years.International institutions, including Pakistan, are also active in this, so that a healthy society can be formed.
According to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 27, 2020, smokers may be at higher risk of Covid 19, as smoking weakens the human body’s immune system.Smoking affects the lungs, increases the risk of many respiratory infections and can increase the severity of respiratory illnesses. Research has shown that smokers have a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure and death.
PANAH general secretary Sanaullah Ghumman said that according to the WHO, tobacco kills half of its users. The FBR, as a party, explained that it had no objection to the imposition of the health levy, and that it was working to implement it, but that no progress had been made on the implementation of the bill passed by the Cabinet. It is clear that delaying tactics are being adopted.The implementation of the Health Levy will reduce the smoking trend, promote health and increase revenue.
On the occasion, former Member Provincial Assembly Tehseen Fawad said that smoking is not our priority, it is a health hazard, for which the government has to play its role. Spark spokesman Khalil Ahmad said that children are the future of the nation.
SPARC spokesman Khalil Ahmad said that children are the future of the nation, But sadly 1200 school going children use tobacco on a daily basis. HDF spokesman Bilal said that in spite of poverty, a man spends Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 on smoking alone, while millions of rupees are spent on tobacco-borne diseases.Dr. Samia Mazhar from Nijat Trust and others said that smoking is the first step towards drug addiction, which is very dangerous.
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