August 14, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-us-Sani 15, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: The electronic media should discourage advertisements depicting cigarette smokers as heroes.

This was the consensus reached at a two-day workshop on ‘Promotion of healthy lifestyle’ on Wednesday.

The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) to forge alliances with NGOs and the media for promotion of healthy lifestyle at a local hotel.

On the concluding session, the workshop, in its recommendation, said both television and radio should not air advertisements in which a smoker was shown climbing mountains or achieving success in life.

It also recommended launching of a campaign in educational institutions to create awareness among students about the hazards of smoking.

The campaign, it said, should also include a warning to principals/headmasters and teachers not to smoke in front of students. If found guilty, they should be punished so that students could be discouraged from smoking, the workshop added.

Those teachers who remain adamant to smoke despite sensitization against cigarette smoking should be transferred from the respective educational institutions.

The prohibition of smoking and protection of non-smokers ordinance 2002 has authorized members of the parliament and provincial assemblies, Nazims, councillors, senior government officials, sub-inspectors of police, heads of education institutions, managers of airport lounges, bus/wagon conductors, heads of hospitals, managers of restaurants and entertainment places as the competent authority to check the offence of smoking.

Public places like buses, wagons, trains, domestic flights, offices, schools, dispensaries, hospitals, gymnasiums, lounges, waiting rooms at airports, railway stations and bus/wagon stops have been declared as smoke-free places.

The ordinance also restricts the sale of cigarettes to children below the age of 18 years and declares storage and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco-related products within 50 metres of schools, colleges and other teaching institutions as an offence.

The workshop also emphasized to strictly implement the two ordinances including anti-smoking law and the protection of breast-feeding and young child nutrition ordinance.

It was also said the health ministry should act as a coordinating agency in creating awareness through media on healthy lifestyle, health education and tobacco-free initiative.