KARACHI, Sept 25: Speakers at a seminar on tobacco control have said that religious scholars could play a pivotal role in eliminating the use of tobacco from society by educating people.

The seminar was organised by the pulmonary and critical care medicine section of the medicine department of the Aga Khan University in collaboration with the federal ministry of health on the campus on Thursday.

A religious scholar, engineer Naveed Ahmed, said good health was a blessing of God, and people should not destroy it by using stuff like tobacco and other drugs.

“The Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) is reported to have said: ‘Whosoever drinks poison, thereby killing himself, will sip this poison forever in the hellfire.’ Cigarettes contain poisonous substances and smoking such poison is equivalent to committing suicide,” Mr Ahmed said while emphasising that “scientific research has clearly shown that each cigarette takes away 11 minutes from one’s life”.

The head of the AKU pulmonary and critical care medicine section, Dr Javaid Khan, said lung cancer was the number one cause of cancer-related deaths in Pakistani males and over 90 per cent of such cases were caused due to the use of tobacco.

“The treatment of this disabling condition is very difficult, and most patients eventually end up with lung failure,” Dr Khan added while saying that patients should not rely only on chest X-rays for diagnosis as it may not reveal cancer until it reached an advanced stage.

Dr Shehzad Ghaffar said the use of tobacco in the form of Gutka and Pan Masala was also one of the major causes of oral cancers. “Gutka and Pan masala are commonly consumed in Pakistan, resulting in a rise in cancers of the head, neck, and mouth,” he said.

Ms Shaheen Masood of the federal ministry of health Islamabad said that the government needed support from all sections of society, including religious scholars, to educate the public about serious health hazards associated with the use of tobacco.

She asked religious scholars to use their influence to spread the awareness regarding the dangers of use of tobacco.

Dr Mohammad Irfan of AKU said that a person with strong willpower could quit smoking as it was no more painful as nicotine withdrawal symptoms now last only for a couple of weeks, and there were medicines available to help with the process.

According to a WHO report, deaths toll due to tobacco addiction is expected to rise to 10 million per year by the year 2025, unless preventive measures are taken.