October 29, 2006	Sunday	Shawwal 5, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: Lack of political will and awareness among public, absence of effective mechanism, loopholes in law have stalled the efforts to enforce the anti-smoking ordinance in letter and spirit.

The much talked-about plan to strictly implement the ban on smoking in government offices, transport vehicles and other public places is likely to be delayed as only two provinces have so far come up with strategies to enforce the most crucial health-related policy.

An inter-provincial meeting held on October 21 had set a deadline for Oct 28, requiring all the provincial governments to devise a comprehensive strategy and a plan of action to implement the anti-smoking ordinance.

An official source told Dawn on Saturday that Punjab and Balochistan had submitted their plans of action to the federal government to strictly implement the Prohibition of Smoking Ordinance 2002, but Sindh and the NWFP were yet to come up with their respective strategies.

The sources said Punjab and Balochistan had assured the federal government that they intended to interact with all district and town nazims in addition to arranging awareness programmes in public schools and other institutions against smoking.

Development of health education material to inform the people about the hazards of smoking is also included in the action plan.

The health officials in the provinces and Centre tend to maintain a nonchalant attitude towards such an important matter of public interest. Therefore, the Supreme Court, on a suo motu notice of an application filed by Prof (Dr) Javed Khan, a consultant of Aga Khan University, Karachi, has taken up the matter concerning tobacco ‘epidemic’ and violation of the anti- smoking law in offices, hospitals, parks, educational institutions and public transport. The next hearing in this regard would be held on Monday.

In his March 15 letter, Dr Khan had invited the attention of the chief justice of Pakistan towards non-implementation of the anti-smoking ordinance. He stated that hundreds of people had died due to different smoking-related diseases. Smoking can cause cancers of lung, oral cavity, oesophagus, larynx, bladder, pancreas, kidney, stomach and blood.

Meanwhile, the health ministry, the source said, had already submitted a compliance report to the Supreme Court, stating that in line with the court’s directions, the government had delegated punitive powers to provincial governments for strict implementation of the Prohibition of Smoking Ordinance 2002.

It further stated that as per directions, a meeting of all the four chief secretaries had been called, in which the provincial governments had made a commitment to expediting efforts to strictly implement the ordinance.

Despite promulgation of anti-smoking ordinance in 2002, the law has had a very little effect in the society which is evident from the fact that cigarettes are still being sold at a close proximity of education institutions when Section 9 of the ordinance clamps complete prohibition on the sale of tobacco and tobacco products, especially to minors, within 50 meters of an education institution. At the last hearing, the apex court had stressed special attention to this particular section.

Even public transport drivers in the capital city can be seen smoking with impunity, causing inconvenience to woman passengers sitting beside them. The law authorises the wagon drivers as well as the conductors to eject any passenger from the vehicle for smoking.

“The Islamabad Capital Territory administration has not yet received any guidelines or orders to enforce prohibition of smoking ordinance,” Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Chaudhry Muhammad Ali said when contacted.

At the last inter-provincial meeting, WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Khalif Bile had informed the participants that the use of tobacco was one of the major causes of deaths in the country, claiming over 60,000 lives annually.

On the other hand, the government reportedly earns approximately Rs38.5 billion each year from the tobacco industry alone. The huge amount does not include the taxes that the provinces are charging on tobacco production.

The law imposed a penalty up to Rs1,000, extendible to Rs100,000 in case of second offence, for smoking in public places. Punishment, in certain cases, also suggested three months imprisonment.

Any authorised officer like the members of the parliament, local nazim, union council councillors, drivers of the wagons, buses, trains, cabin crew of PIA, a grade 20 or above government officer, head of institutions like hospitals or schools, colleges or university or a police officer, not below the rank of sub- inspector, can remove any person from a public place for violating anti-smoking law, the ordinance said.

It may be recalled here that since the enactment of the law banning smoking at public places in 2002, it was enforced for the first time on September 4, 2005 when Islamabad traffic police fined a public transport vehicle driver for flouting the ban.

Those accused of violating the ban on smoking at public places have to be taken to the court of a magistrate first where they could be fined if found guilty. The involvement of courts in the matter has scared away public from filing complaints as it involves money and time.

The ordinance should be amended further to devise a mechanism for bringing the violators to book forthwith. Smoking in public transport should be clearly mentioned as a ‘traffic offence’, the statement said.

Total cigarette production in Pakistan is about 71 billion sticks a year, of which the legal production is approximately 77 per cent. The remaining 23 per cent is illegal production due to which the government suffers a loss of Rs9.2 billion annually.

Another study suggests that 16 per cent children under the age of 17 years in Pakistan are habitual smokers. Fifty two per cent of juvenile smokers are studying in colleges, while 48 per cent go to school.