KARACHI, July 28: Tobacco use is rising in Pakistan, with about 30.7 per cent of men estimated to be smokers, while 100,000 people die from tobacco-related causes annually, said doctors at a press conference on Thursday.

According to them, smoking has been forbidden in various schools of thoughts in Islam across the world.

Pakistan Chest Society President Dr Nadeem Rizvi referred to a number of Quranic verses which he said clearly prohibited Muslims from smoking tobacco. He said Ramazan was the best time to get rid of this addiction.

“Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. Cigarette smoking in pregnant women results in serious harm to their newborns,” he said.

Giving some global statistics on tobacco smoking, PCS General Secretary Dr Shahina Qayyum, a chest physician at the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, said that diseases caused by smoking killed one in 10 adults globally and resulted in four million deaths annually. “Every eight seconds, someone dies from tobacco use,” she said, adding that every cigarette smoked cut at least five minutes of life on average.—Staff Reporter