PESHAWAR: Speakers here at a seminar stressed the need for sustainable tobacco control in Pakistan through integrating tobacco control in health, education, environment policies and development framework to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals SDGs.

The seminar was organized by local non-governmental organization Blue Veins, in Peshawar on Wednesday in connection with the World No Tobacco Day 2022.

Chairperson Standing Committee on Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Law makers, policy makers, representatives from government departments, members from civil society, media and academics were in attendance.

World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed around the world every year on 31 May to raise awareness on the harmful and deadly effects of tobacco use and call for global efforts for tobacco-control.

This year the day is marked with a campaign theme around awareness raising on environmental impacts of tobacco.

The speakers of the seminar called for public attention to the tobacco epidemic in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and urged on raising public awareness about the environmental impact of tobacco use, and policies for sustainable tobacco control through multi-sectoral response.

Pakistan is one of the largest tobacco-consuming countries in the world. According to the Pakistan Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) 2015-2016, 45% of the households in Pakistan are tobacco consumers. Almost 23.9 million adults currently use tobacco in any form in the country (Ministry of National Health Services, 2018).

Along with the dangerous health outcomes, the cultivation, production, distribution, consumption, and post-consumer waste of tobacco products are having shockingly widespread environmental impacts worldwide including Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022