Implementing anti-smoking measures

The Federal Ministry of Health has joined hands with the World Health Organisation and the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases to introduce a new programme to discourage smoking. Speaking at a special meeting on Wednesday, Director General (implementation) of the Health Ministry's Tobacco Control Initiative noted that smoking kills around 100,000 Pakistanis every year, and announced various measures to discourage the habit.
Beginning May 31, he said, it would be compulsory for all cigarette manufacturers to print a pictorial health warning on cigarette packs about the dangers of smoking. This is a sensible move considering that majority of our population is illiterate, which renders useless the written warnings that have been in use for a longtime.
The leader of the Tobacco Control Initiative also talked of a legal ban on smoking in public places and the sale of cigarettes in and around educational institutions. The violators, he said, would be punished with a fine, ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 100,000, depending on the frequency of the violation, and also up to three months of imprisonment. None of this is new.
The Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance dates back to 2002. It contained the same provisions. In 2004, Pakistan also signed and ratified an international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. A particularly stringent rule was introduced last July, when the government withdrew the Statutory Rule Order, prohibiting smoking even in designated areas in offices and other work places, thus putting a complete ban on smoking in public.
Still, the problem persists because of non-implementation of the law. The reasons are related both to lack of awareness and civic sense. Most people, especially uneducated individuals, are not well-informed about the law, and the fact that they are not supposed to light up in workplaces, restaurants, airports, buses, etc. There are many others, who are formally educated and know what their responsibilities are, yet find it beneath their status to respect the law like everybody else.
It is imperative, therefore, for the government to start an awareness campaign in tandem with implementation measures. To discourage smoking among the young, school curriculum's should contain chapters about the health hazards involved. Regular media campaigns must be used to deglamorize smoking and remind the smokers of the existence of a ban as well as the fact that second-hand smoking can cause life-threatening diseases to people around them, whether in an office or a home. The idea should be to create an environment in which it becomes more and more difficult for people to smoke.