Authorities directed to make Murree tobacco-free zone

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rawalpindi has directed the authorities concerned to make Murree a tobacco-free zone.
According to a district administration spokesman, a meeting of District Tobacco Control Implementation Committee was held here under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rawalpindi Muhammad Ali.

During the meeting, the DC directed the authorities to take solid steps to make Murree a tobacco-free zone.

Murree was a beautiful tourist resort and place of entertainment where the tourists came from all over the country for sightseeing and recreation, he said adding, tobacco-free Murree would reflect smoke-free Pakistan.

The DC instructed the officers to take all possible steps in collaboration with the authorities of Ministry of National Health to make Murree, a tobacco-free tourist resort.

He said that all recreational places in other Tehsils of Rawalpindi district should also be made tobacco-free areas. Rawalpindi would be the first district in Pakistan where all tourist spots to be smoke free, he added. He ordered the authorities concerned to install ‘No Smoking’ boards outside all schools and colleges in Rawalpindi under Tobacco Smoke Free Cities project of the federal government.

No smoking sign boards with a warning of punitive action should also be displayed at all the government offices, health centers, hotels, restaurants, cafeterias, the court buildings, cinema halls, conference or seminar halls, public transport vehicles, sports stadiums, recreational areas and other public places.

Director Tobacco Control Rawalpindi, focal person, World Health Organization, Dr. Samra Mazhar, Additional Deputy Commissioner, General/Head of Tobacco Control Cell, Rawalpindi, Capt. ® Qasim Ijaz, Project Manager, Mohammad Aftab Ahmed, Secretary RTA, Director TB Control, Dr. Syed Mohammad Raza, ETO, Manzar Khalid, Dr. Asif from Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Dr. Mohammad Ali, Medical Officer Holy Family, Sadia Afzal from Punjab Food Authority, Dr. Imran Ali from District Health Authority, Director PHA, Tariq Mahmood, Mohammad Mohsin, Admin Officer, Mohammad Danish Chaudhry, District Coordinator and Mohammad Rizwan Assistant Coordinator, Tobacco Control Cell Rawalpindi and the officials of the departments concerned were also present in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Dr. Samra Mazhar informed that nearly 160,000 people in Pakistan died every year due to smoking, adding, deaths due to smoking could be prevented.

The sale of cigarettes to persons under 18 years of age was prohibited under the law besides the sale, distribution and storage of cigarettes up to 50 meters from education institutions was also prohibited which should be implemented in letter and spirit, she added.

ADCG informed that the district administration in collaboration with the authorities of the federal government was setting up smoking cessation clinics in District Headquarters Hospital and Holy Family Hospital.

District Commissioner Rawalpindi would soon inaugurate the clinics which would provide medical aid and assistance to those wanted to quit smoking that is main cause of several severe diseases, he added.