Jump to full article: The News (pk), 2009-06-01
Author: Shahina Maqbool
Intro: The government reduced the tobacco industry to the size of a pygmy here Sunday by announcing immediate rollback of the controversial Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) on Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) and making the printing of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs and outers mandatory with effect from January 1, 2010.
The government also prohibited the tobacco companies from offering free giveaways, cash rebates or discounts as a marketing incentive. It also announced to make Pakistan Railways smoke-free from July 1, 2009.
Minister for Health Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani made these surprise announcements at a seminar organised in connection with World No-Tobacco Day 2009 (WNTD) here on Sunday. By doing so, the government not only added a golden chapter to the history of tobacco control efforts in Pakistan but also regained its lost glory in the international health community, which felt the pinch of the country's pro-tobacco industry posture just as much as anti-tobacco campaigners at home. . . .
Jakhrani also announced that all railway trains will be smoke-free from July 1, 2009.
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