Ramazan Provides Perfect Opportunity to Kick Smoking Habit

September 1, 2008

Tobacco is the most powerful addictive substance currently available worldwide. Citing figures, Professor Khan said that “Every cigarette puff contains 4,700 toxins of which 60 are proven to cause cancer of various organs of body. Tobacco kills half of those who use it, with its victims dying, on average, 15 to 20 years prematurely.” Smoking is a lethal threat to both individual and community health and a major cause of serious life-threatening diseases including lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema, coronary heart disease, and cancer of the bladder. World Health Organization figures reveal that 5.4 million people died from tobacco related causes last year and the death toll is expected to rise to 10 million per year by 2025 if the tobacco epidemic goes unchecked.

The occasion was addressed by h ealth professionals as well as religious scholars, who cautioned on the hazards of smoking and emphasised the ease with which Ramazan facilitates giving up the habit.

Engineer Naveed Ahmed, a scholar affiliated with the Quran Academy in Karachi, said that several Islamic injunctions call on followers to look after their health and to avoid unhealthy habits. Engineer Ahmed called on religious scholars in general to utilise this time of the year for disseminating relevant information to the public on the hazards of tobacco use. Being a highly addictive substance, nicotine would in fact be strictly forbidden in Islam.

Referring to the UN's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Aga Khan University Assistant Professor Dr Mohammad Irfan pointed out that the Government, as signatory to the Convention, was bound to take strong anti-tobacco measures in the country. He noted the government's failure in this direction as today, 40 per cent of men and eight per cent of women are regular smokers in Pakistan. Dr Irfan regretted that tobacco companies have a free hand in promoting a powerful addictive substance to young people, and called on the government to demonstrate a proactive approach to controlling the tobacco epidemic.

The Pakistan Hypertension League representative, AKU's Consultant Cardiologist Dr Mohammad Ishaq said “Passive smoking amounts to a seriou“The month of Ramazan provides the perfect opportunity to kick the smoking habit once and for all,” said Professor Jawaid Khan, Head, Section of Pulmonology, Aga Khan University Hospital, speaking at a National Quit Smoking Day commemorated at the University on Ramazan 1 (September 1, 2008). E very year, the first day of Ramazan is commemorated all over the Muslim world as a quit smoking day. The month provides an excellent opportunity to adopt a healthy lifestyle.s health risk to non-smokers. Smoking should be banned at all times in all public places and public transport should be made smoke-free as described in the laws passed by the federal cabinet in 2002.” Dr Ishaq quoted a recent UNDP study which shows that regionally, annual cigarette consumption per person is highest in Pakistan (629) as compared to Sri Lanka (392), Bangladesh (202) and India (119).

For more information, contact Fabeha Pervez, Media Executive, Department of Public Affairs, Aga Khan University, Stadium Road, Karachi, on +92 21 486-2925 or fabeha.pervez@aku.edu.

Notes:
Aga Khan University Hospital
Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi started operations in 1985, as an integrated, health care delivery component of Aga Khan University. It is a philanthropic, not-for-profit, private teaching institution committed to providing the best possible options for diagnosis of disease and team management of patient care. Seventy-three per cent of all patients treated at AKUH are from low- to middle-income areas. Those who are unable to pay for treatment receive assistance through a variety of subsidies including the Hospital's Patient Welfare Programme that has disbursed Rs 2 billion to more than 300,000 people since 1986.

Aga Khan University
AKU was chartered in 1983 as Pakistan's first private university. Its objective is to promote human welfare in general, and the welfare of the people of Pakistan in particular, by disseminating knowledge and providing instruction, training, research and service in the health sciences, education and such other branches of learning as the University may determine. AKU also has programmes in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Syria and Egypt.