CM: Government dedicated to smoking free educational institutions

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has called on the people to quit smoking and lead a healthy life, calling tobacco use a serious danger to public health and a leading cause of preventable diseases and fatalities.

In her statement on the occasion of World No-Tobacco Day, she claimed tobacco consumption might prove more lethal than many serious diseases and called it a nuisance worse than an epidemic. She stated each puff of tobacco was a step toward a new sickness.

Smoking was not just a habit, but a self-destructive attack on one’s health, economic well-being and social life, the CM stated. “Over 250,000 tobacco-related deaths in the country is alarming and painful,” she said.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said that the Punjab government was making efforts to impose complete prohibition on smoking in schools, colleges and other educational institutions. Smoking in government offices, public transport and other public areas was a serious offence and strict application of relevant legislation would be ensured, she said.

She warned that smoking and e-cigarette usage could be among the leading causes of heart attacks and other serious health consequences in youth, expressing alarm about the increasing use of tobacco products and vaping among young people.

“Protecting the younger generation from tobacco addiction was a top priority and the government was committed to taking all possible measures in this regard,” the CM stated. She said awareness on ill consequences of tobacco was not just the government’s job but also a social responsibility.

She called on citizens to give their families and loved ones the gift of a healthy, smoke-free environment, and appealed to the public to mark World No-Tobacco Day by pledging to give up smoking and to adopt a better way of life.