Civil Society Organizations Reaffirm Resolve To Combat Tobacco

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th May, 2022 ) :More than 50 civil society organizations throughout the country will commemorate World No Tobacco Day on May 31st (Tuesday) to raise awareness among smokers on the hazardous effects of smoking and to pursue them to quit the bad habit.

The governmental, non-governmental, and community-based organizations, will arrange meetings, seminars or webinars, rallies, and display posters and banners as part of their awareness campaign in different cities and towns.

The theme for this year by the World Health Organization (WHO) is "Protect the environment ". Civil society organizations are going to highlight this theme as the tobacco industry's production life cycle is affecting the environment of the planet, highlighting that, throughout its lifecycle, tobacco pollutes the planet and damages the health of all people and demanding to raise more taxes on cigarettes pack as cigarettes are still much cheaper.

Coalition for Tobacco Control-Pakistan (CTC-PAK), a coalition of more than 50 active civil society organizations and a subsidiary of Society for Alternative Media and Research, is also observing the day in its respective work areas.

The tobacco control activists through different activities on the World No Tobacco Day will also emphasize protecting the earth from the pollution of the tobacco as the industry released 84,000,000 tonnes of CO2 into the air raising global temperatures, saving forests from them as they chopped 600 billion trees, and 22,000 billion tonnes of water used to make cigarettes.

They also demand to raise taxes on cigarette packs and urged to stop the tobacco industry's interference in tobacco control policy issues. The activists will also raise awareness against the use of e-cigarettes and other tobacco products which are equally harmful to health and the environment.

World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed on May 31st every year all over the world as a part of the World Health Organization (WHO) campaign against smoking. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness against the use of tobacco and protect public health.