A meeting of various organizations was held on Thursday under the auspices of PANAH in which doctors, HDF, SPARC, Nijat Trust, Kidney Welfare, Women Welfare, Fatima Malik Association, tobacco victims, journalists, political and social activists and lawyers participated.
PANAH President Maj Gen (r) Masud-ur-Rehman Kiani said in a telephone address that the organization has been fighting for 36 years to protect the public from heart disease. “Tobacco and sugary drinks are harmful to human health and they can lead to an increase in diseases. There are reasons why their use weakens the immune system, which makes it difficult to fight diseases like coronavirus,” he said. “We all have to work together to prevent it,” he added.
General Secretary PANAH Sanaullah Ghumman said that the budget for the next financial year is being presented today. “The tobacco mafia has also jumped into the fray to achieve its goals. This mafia gives wrong numbers to the government every year in budget days. Around 8 billion rupees are spent in a year on propaganda for this, but PANAH is struggling to thwart their conspiracies,” he said. “We are very grateful to the media for spreading our voice everywhere,” he added.
Doctors, political and media personnel and lawyers in their speeches said that the awareness campaign on the dangers of tobacco and sugary drinks should be intensified. “If we start the struggle from a single platform, it will yield positive results. The nations that become indifferent to their new generation begin to decline,” they opined. At the same time, a resolution was passed by the Civil Society Alliance requesting Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure the implementation of the bill passed by his government on tobacco and sugary drinks that would save the new generation, reduce diseases and reduce the cost of health.
