Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Silent death and diet
While addressing an audience on World Hypertension Day 2022, Prof Faisal Ahmed, Head of Cardiology Department, Liaquat National Hospital, said every third Pakistani adult is suffering from hypertension, often referred to as the silent killer. Its high prevalence makes all these people vulnerable to Corona-virus (Covid-19, now again surfacing its head in parts of Pakistan), which may affect them more severely and as a result increase the death rate than those who are non-hypertensive.”
After reading these findings, I started probing further and found that one of the main reasons for hypertension is high quantity of salt in our daily diet. Years of high salt-content food and little to no exercise has left, in its wake, a plethora of non-communicable diseases. Is it not high time the government takes steps to reverse, if not reduce, the negative implications of higher salt consumption? They could start by introducing MSG as an alternate to salt due to its low sodium content. It contains one-third amount of sodium as opposed to table salt and has been used to enhance the umami taste in food for over 100 years.
If the FDA in the US has placed MSG in their “GRAS” category i.e., “generally recognized as safe” for years now, then why is it still banned in Pakistan? Though it will be a slow process, replacing salt with MSG will be a good start in reversing the negative effects to the nation’s health.
M ROHAIL HASSAN
Karachi
Budget 2022-23: U-turn
The budget 2022-23 had already shaken the people and afterwards imposition of more and more taxes on industries has oppressed the people. Though the government claims that its policies are aimed at rooting out abject poverty (!), yet it doesn’t seem so, because the imposition of taxes can increase the inflation which will directly put more and more burden on the country’s economy. Is it not a U-turn to the presented budget on 10 June 2022? Moreover, on one side, the government has allowed 15pc increase in salaries and on the other imposed 10pc super-tax on industries. Therefore, resultantly, the most affected area is education, especially for the students with poor background. The increase in the price of paper has ultimately caused an abrupt increase in the price of notebooks, books, pencils and pens which are the important daily used items for a student.
In certain conditions, the deal with the IMF will also pressurize the population. The government is required to be sensitive on an urgent basis to control the situation; otherwise, our situation will be no more different from that of Sri Lanka, which has saddened the people of Pakistan because Sri Lanka is one of the best friends of Pakistan.
SHAH JAN PEER JAN
Kech
Morgan’s retirement
It really hurts a lot to express that England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday 28th of June. He is known one of best captains who led England team very well and under his captaincy England has won 2019 ICC World and he took England team top of the One-day International (ODI) and Twenty-20 rankings. He created countless records in his cricket career such as Morgan is England’s leading run-scorer of all times in ODI and T20 cricket with 6,957 and 2,458 runs respectively.
His tally of 225 ODIs and 115 T20Is is also an England record. He succeeded Alastair Cook as England’s ODI captain on the eve of the 2015 World Cup in Australia. Besides, Eion Morgan has the record of most sixes by a batsman in an inning which he created in 2019 World Cup against Afghanistan. Everyone will miss him and his actions in cricket.
IMTIAZ ALI
Kech
Domestic
gas crisis
Pakistan is enriched with a lot of natural resources like coal, gas and several others. Sui gas accounts for a huge portion of gas production in Pakistan. In spite of being a major resource, people of Pakistan are facing domestic gas crisis.
The Sui gas, normally used for cooking purposes, has always been in limited quantities. Everyone, especially women, suffer a lot due to this poor supply of natural gas. There is no gas, especially at meal times which makes the cooking a Herculean task. Consequently, men and children have to go with an empty stomach to offices and schools. Moreover; people have to pay the large gas bills even without using the gas. After spending a lot of money on this gas meter system, people are compelled to opt for LPG or fire wood.
These both alternatives are not only highly expensive but also death-dealing. As LPG cylinders are likely to blast causing severe injuries and deaths .The smoke of wood has become a helping hand of global warming.
The gas offices pay no heed to the complaints of common people. They argue that most of the people do not pay bills. So for that, gas companies should take other steps to tackle the problem. By doing this, gas companies cannot only rebuild the trust of people but can also earn money.
MAHNOOR BALOUCH
Via email
