KARACHI, May 29: Terming tobacco a major public health hazard, health professionals on Thursday urged the government to ensure implementation of effective policies curbing the use of tobacco.

They were speaking at a seminar jointly organised by the Pakistan Medical Association, Karachi chapter, and the Pakistan Chest Society, Sindh, in connection with the World No Tobacco Day falling on May 31.

Health experts unanimously endorsed a set of resolutions prepared in the light of the World Health Organisation’s guidelines and presented by Dr Samrina Hashmi of the PMA and Dr Shahina Qayyum of the chest society.It was said in the resolution that there was an obvious need to protect people from tobacco smoke and as such there should be a ban on smoking in government offices, work places and other indoor settings and at all hospitals and educational institutions, even those meant for professional and higher education.

The government should ensure that warnings against the hazards of tobacco should be highlighted adequately and among other measures it should be made mandatory to put pictorial warnings that covered at least 30 per cent of the principal surface area of all tobacco products.

In was noted that it was difficult for tobacco users to quit on their own and most people benefited from help and support to overcome their dependence and as such smoking cessation clinics should be established in the public sector.

Another resolution said that a comprehensive ban should be imposed on all forms of advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, free distribution of tobacco products and selling of tobacco products to children.

The health professionals urged the government to raise the taxes on tobacco products and cigarettes so that it became beyond the reach of the citizens belonging to the average income group.

It was further resolved that the Pakistan Medical Association and the Pakistan Chest Society should make efforts for developing data about youth and adult tobacco users as part of a scheme to monitor tobacco use and prevention.

The experts stressed the need for exerting public pressure on the government and the cigarette producers so that the young generation could be saved from the harmful effects of tobacco. The government should also ensure a clean air policy, they added.

The director of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Dr Azhar Farooqui, termed ischemic heart disease the leading cause of death, which could be attributed to the thickening of blood due to tobacco use.

Dr Nadeem Rizvi, head of department of chest medicine at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said that tobacco would become the biggest cause of deaths worldwide by 2030 when the tobacco-related deaths were feared to reach around 10 million deaths per year. There were 1.1 billion smokers worldwide, 800 million were living in the developing countries, he added.

Dr Jawaid A. Khan of the Aga Khan University Hospital said that second-hand tobacco smoke (passive smoking) was also dangerous to human health. It caused cancer, heart diseases and many other serious diseases, he added.

Prof Sirajuddaula, president, Pakistan Cancer Society, said that tobacco was the single largest preventable cause of cancer in the world today. It caused about 80-90 per cent of all lung cancer deaths and about 30 per cent of all cancer deaths in the developing countries, he added.

He said that after finding it difficult to flourish further in the United States and Europe, now the cigarette/tobacco producers were eyeing third world countries. “In Pakistan too, we have laws against the menace of tobacco, but they are not implemented effectively,” he said.

Dr Tariq Rafi, head of the ENT department of the JPMC, said that the increasing number of smokers and other tobacco users among the young people in different parts of the world considerably affected the general and oral health of the children and youths. Discussing the methods and benefits of quitting tobacco, Dr Niasar Rao of the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases and Dr Mohammad Hussain of the Liaquat National Hospital said that one could live longer and better after quitting smoking.

It was difficult for tobacco users to quit on their own and most people benefit from help and support from their friends, families and co-workers to overcome their dependence on tobacco, they concluded.

In their attempt to register their protest against cigarettes, the medical professionals and medical students and other participants of the seminar also brought out a rally symbolising a funeral procession of cigarette/tobacco at the end of seminar.