Ensure laws to achieve tobacco free Pakistan: Civil society

SUKKUR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jul, 2026) Nari Foundation Sukkur head Anwar Ali Mahar and Afshan Asghar have said that medical centers should be established to help smokers quit smoking, provide them with services and facilities, and demanded that parents play their role in this regard to make a smoke free Pakistan possible.

They expressed these views in a meeting organized for tobacco eradication in collaboration with the Alternative Research Initiative (ARI).

Anwar Mahar said that smoking is not just a health issue but a problem that affects our society, economy and future generations. He said that 31 million people in Pakistan use tobacco in various forms.

Medical centers should be established to help them get rid of this habit and every individual in society, including parents, should play their role.

Advocate Shafiq Koso said that laws have been made to prevent smoking but there is a lack of implementation. However, despite this, complete eradication of smoking from Pakistan is possible. He said that if the government provides medical assistance to smokers and awareness about the use of less harmful alternative products, smoking can be controlled.

<?php /*?> <?php */?>

Educationist and social activist Haider Ali Koso and Amjad Mahar said that diseases and deaths caused by tobacco smoking cause a loss of Rs. 615 billion to the country in a year.

They said that to achieve a tobacco free Pakistan, we need to learn from successful international examples like Sweden to control the harms of smoking in society. They said that the government should formulate rules and regulations for the use of less harmful alternative products to help smokers quit smoking and to keep non-smokers, including children, away from the use of these products.

Abdul Wahid Mahar of Nari Foundation Sukkur said that the government should ensure implementation of relevant laws to quit tobacco so that the availability of cigarettes and access to them in society is not possible for people. He said that parents should play their role in protecting their children from smoking.