Regional Director of the World Health Organisation Dr Hussein E. Gezairy congratulated the Government of Pakistan for ratification of Tobacco Control Convention and active participation in Smoking Control programme.
He was speaking at the second inter-ministerial meeting held here on Thursday. The meeting was organised by the Health Ministry to consider ratification of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Dr Gezairy informed the meeting that the FCTC was unanimously approved by 192 countries of the world during the World Health Assembly, which was held in Geneva during May 2003.
Earlier, the meeting chaired by Federal Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan has unanimously decided that Pakistan should ratify the convention.
The minister assured the meeting that ratification of the FCTC would not cause any revenue losses to the government and tobacco growers or others involved in the business of tobacco.
Health Ministry Secretary Tariq Farook said, "It is a matter of great achievement that Pakistan had already implemented 90 percent of various covenants of the FCTC through promulgation of two ordinances in 2002 for controlling smoking and other tobacco usage in the country.
He said that the initiatives taken by Pakistan had been appreciated the world over.
Dr Sania Nishter from the Heartfile highlighted the diseases caused by use of tobacco. She said that nearly 100,000 people die every year in Pakistan due to tobacco-related diseases.
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