Staff Reporter
Society for Protection of Rights of the Child (SPARC) organized an online “Knowledge and fact sharing session regarding effects of tobacco on health at 1500 hours on Thursday, 11 June, 2020.
Anti-tobacco activists have demanded Pakistan government to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) to save millions of lives, which are at risk due to deceiving tactics of big tobacco industry. This demand has come forward before 2020-21 budget, a time of the year where tobacco industry tries to manipulate policymakers in order to fill its coffers at expense of public health.
Malik Imran Ahmed, Country head Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) said, Pakistan government should follow example of Australia to enforce plain packaging for tobacco products, a step required to prevent loss of millions of lives in near future. He mentioned that following Australia’s lead, 15 countries have since adopted tobacco plain packaging laws and many other governments are in the process of formally considering the policy. However, Pakistan has not made any progress in this regard.
