Nothing but withdrawal of order to appease anti-smoking campaigners
With World No-Tobacco Day just nine days away, expectations run high because nothing short of withdrawal of the controversial Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) legitimising the creation of designated smoking areas in Pakistan will be acceptable to anti-tobacco networks, alliances, and campaigners working at both the national as well as the global levels.
“Important announcements will be made on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day,” a high official of the Ministry of Health was recently reported as having stated. It is about time the ministry also realises that the only announcement that is important enough from the perspective of anti-tobacco lobbies at home and abroad, as well as the World Health Organisation (WHO), is repeal of the SRO that promotes smoking in designated areas.
Pakistan shocked the international community in September 2008 when its Ministry of Health decided to legitimise the long-disputed smoking lounges by issuing guidelines for their establishment. The SRO projected the country in a negative limelight, given that Article 8 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the Guidelines adopted by the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties, makes it legally binding for all signatories to adopt and implement effective legislative measures for protection against exposure to tobacco smoke.
Former secretary health Suleman Ghani had expressed serious reservations on the SRO and was on the verge of having it withdrawn after consultations with the Ministry of Law. He had conceded that the WHO, as well as the civil society and tobacco control alliances, were strongly opposed to the way Pakistan was proceeding in the domain of tobacco control.
In January this year, members of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Tobacco Control had also reiterated their earlier stance, calling upon the Ministry of Health to withdraw the order in view of the serious harm that it has inflicted on national and global efforts to protect people from the deleterious effects of second hand smoke. The Journalists Health Forum, along with the National Alliance for Tobacco Control, the Coalition for Tobacco Control, and more recently, participants of a national training workshop on adoption of 100 per cent smoke-free policies in Pakistan, have also been demanding repeal of the SRO, but the government has not budged an inch.
Scientific evidence proves that nothing short of complete smoking bans work because exceptions are hard to enforce; create inequitable protection; and can give rise to legal challenges. Rather than reinventing the wheel and once again calling meetings of stakeholders, the Ministry of Health should announce a decision that is grounded in scientific evidence and international best practices. But on the contrary, it takes pride in citing examples of countries that are permitting smoking in premises with separate smoking rooms, little realising that bad examples are not worthy of being emulated. Being the custodian of public health, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health to take every possible step to reduce the incidence of tobacco use; to encourage people to quit smoking; and to prohibit smoking in enclosed places.
The issue of smoking lounges came to the fore when, despite the 2006 World No Tobacco Day theme that spoke openly about the hazards of smoking lounges and why they must be discouraged, an Islamabad-based multinational tobacco industry inaugurated two smoking lounges inside the Parliament House with the blessings of a leading member of the Parliament. The official theme of World No Tobacco Day 2006 was ‘100% smoke free insides.’ This time around, the theme of World No Tobacco Day focuses on ‘Tobacco Health Warnings,’ with an emphasis on pictorial warnings that have been shown to be particularly effective at making people aware of the health risks of tobacco use and convincing them to quit.
The Tobacco Control Cell of the Ministry of Health has planned several events and activities for this year’s observation, which kicked off today (Wednesday) with launching of a pilot initiative on ‘Smoke-Free Homes’ and will conclude on May 31 with a seminar during which the Secretary Health is expected to make important announcements in relation to tobacco control.
‘The Smoke-free Homes’ initiative has been launched in partnership with the Association for Social Development Pakistan, National Health Services (NHS) Leeds, and Institute of Public Health, Lahore. Its purpose is to protect households, more specifically young children and pregnant women, from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke including respiratory problems, ear infections, low-birth weight and meningitis. The project targets families to ensure that adults don’t smoke in front of children and take their tobacco smoking out of the home. The cornerstone of the initiative is the district focus approach. It will involve health facility staff, community-based health workers, schoolteachers, community leaders and mosque imams. Later, operational guidelines and advocacy material will be developed for educating communities to make their homes free of tobacco-related smoke.
The project, which will make use of lessons learnt in Jia Bagga village in Lahore district, will initially be scaled up in district Sargodha, and depending on the results, will be replicated up in other districts.
On May 23, an advocacy workshop has been planned with district nazim, Rawalpindi, for implementation of the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002 and raising awareness about the hazards of tobacco use and FCTC provisions.
The Tobacco Control Cell is also holding a workshop in collaboration with the Ministry of Education on May 26 to enlist its support for inclusions of tobacco control in the primary and secondary curriculum through signing of an MOU between the Ministry of Education, WHO and the Ministry of Health. The meeting is expected to be chaired by secretary Education.
On May 27, a collaborative activity has been planned with the Ministry of Railways for implementation of Article 6 of the No-Smoking Ordinance, which ordains that all public transport has to be smoke-free. The DG Health is expected to announce the launching of Smoke-Free Trains initiative at a ceremony to be held at the Rawalpindi Railway Station.
The activities will conclude with a ‘No Smoking Awareness Campaign with the Traffic Police’ on May 30 in order to beef up efforts for enforcement on the No-Smoking Ordinance in public service vehicles. More than 8,000 stickers prepared by the Traffic Police will be distributed on the occasion.
However, unless these initiatives are accompanied by withdrawal of the SRO on designated smoking areas, Pakistan’s observation of World No Tobacco Day is unlikely to have an impact.
Copyright © Thenews
