The growing epidemic of Shisha (water-pipe smoking), a lethal add-on as a menu item in public cafes and restaurants causing chronic diseases especially among youngsters, learnt Business Recorder. The trend of smoking Shisha, containing 60% tobacco, has hooked students of colleges and universities in a number of cities of country including provincial capital Karachi.
An average pipe smoking session of around an hour is equivalent to smoking up to 200 cigarettes. Shisha smoking is deceptive through different flavours as people find it appealing in taste while being put in dark about its lethal affects on health. Young girls are more addictive to and are seen using this product with different tastes in various Shisha smoking venues.
Sindh had already passed a resolution unanimously aiming at imposing a ban on Shisha trade in the province but ban has yet to come into force because it required proper legislation. Business Recorder learnt that thousands of Shisha bars are still operating secretly even after proposed ban on Shisha trade by Sindh assembly.
Every year 100,000 people die due to use of different kinds of tobacco, 33 percent higher rate than death toll in bomb and suicide blasts. Health activist Dr Javed Khan, who is the Head of the Chest Diseases Department of the AKUH in his studies revealed that tobacco smoking pollution (TSP) levels in cafes, restaurants and food courts in Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, remain extremely high.
TSP levels are assessed by measuring the level of pollution in the air, particularly fine particulars called PM2.5 in a given area. In non-smoking venues, the mean PM2.5 value was 101 micrograms per square meter (pg/m2), in hotels and restaurants 689 pg/m2 and 1.75 pg/m2 in Shisha smoking venues.
Under WHO guidelines, PM2.5 levels of 250 pg/m2 and above are considered hazardous for health, which means that local public venues still allowing tobacco smoking are failing to meet the international health standards. Health experts believed that Shisha smoking is more injurious to health as compared to conventional cigarette smoking. While the myth about water pipe smoking as being safe has landed a number of young people in difficult health issues, say health experts.
A typical hour long Shisha session involves inhaling 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled when smoking a cigarette, told Dr Qasier Sajjad, Former president Pakistan Medical Association (PMA). "Youngsters do not know that Shisha smoke contained tobacco which has been reported as 2% to 4%, as compared to 1% to 3% for cigarettes. Shisha smoke contains a number of dangerous substances such as carbon monoxide, charcoal, nicotine, arsenic chromium and lead." Dr Qaiser added.
He said an hour of Shisha use is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes, various flavours are mixed with tobacco, adding Shisha use is extremely dangerous to health and link to diseases like lungs cancer, heath diseases, mouths cancer and certain other diseases like tuberculosis, transmission of hepatitis-A." Dr Qaiser Sajjad opined that tobacco is more lethal than terrorism.
It has also emerged that despite growing concerns, the business has now entered poor localities, where children less than 18 years are being allowed to smoke Shisha. The shocking fact about Shisha that emerged in recent times is the use of drugs and alcohol by some bars owners to attract the customers across the country.
The young boys and girls are destroying their life due to open sale of Shisha. They' are unconsciously getting addicted to it. It's not lemon, apple but poison. We would not let our coming generations to follow path of destruction. In Pakistan some 100,000 people die annually due to use of tobacco, mainly due to smoking.
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