Implementing Health Levy Bill Effective Way To Get Rid Of Smoking, Heart Disease

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Sep, 2021 ) :The experts at an awareness session on heart diseases and its causes on Sunday said implementation of Health Levy Bill was an effective way to get rid of smoking and control heart diseases.

The awareness session was conducted in collaboration with civil society under the auspices of Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH), chaired by former Surgeon General Pakistan Army General (R) Kamal Akbar, hosted by General Secretary of PANAH Sana Ullah Ghumman, said a news release.

Speaking on the occasion, General Secretary of PANAH Sana Ullah Ghumman said the effective way to control smoking was to impose a tax on tobacco, which would increase the price of cigarettes, and would become out of reach of children and adults. It would also increase revenue and reduce the health burden due to tobacco caused diseases, he added.

"Prevention should be done on an emergency basis, so that our children and adults can be protected from this disease," he insisted.

On this occasion, Senior members of the PANAH , teachers, students, doctors, lawyers, civil society, Chairperson of the National Development Organization (NDO) Tehseen Fawad, Naveed Abbasi, members of the NDO, and the people from all walks of life attended the session.

An awareness walk was also organized to identify the diseases and their causes, in which the participants carried banners and playcards on which "We have come out to save the heart", "Come with us", "Be the voice of PANAH, get rid of smoking". "Smoking kills heart disease", other slogans were written.

The participants said the rise in heart disease was a wake-up call that needed time to be addressed, but only if the causes of heart disease were prevented.

According to SANOFI, a medical forum, 30 to 40 percent of all deaths in Pakistan are due to heart diseases, with 1 in 10 deaths between the ages of 30 and 70 aged groups occur due to heart diseases.

"There is an urgent need to take practical steps to control the disease. One of the 6 causes of heart disease is smoking. The use of tobacco has increased in adults as well as children and women," it added.