PANAH for imposing surcharge on tobacco items

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH) has appealed the quarters concerned to impose surcharge on tobacco items and sugary drinks in coming budget. In a statement on World No Tobacco Day, Secretary General PANAH Sanaullah Ghuman on Sunday said that sugar drinks and smoking cause growing diseases and cost the government in billions. He said that PANAH has been working for the last 36 years to prevent heart disease among the people. In addition to co-administering CPR to save lives in the event of a heart attack, PANAH also helps poor and underprivileged people to have heart surgery and tries to prevent the causes of heart attacks. He said that there are two major reasons which are not only the cause of heart disease but also the root cause of many other diseases, namely tobacco and sugary drinks. According to British research, those who use too much sugar can die 16 years before their age and the average age of smokers is reduced by 10 years. These diseases are causing the 68% of total deaths rates in Pakistan while the cost of living for these diseases has become 51 per cent.