Move to legalise sheesha lounges in Islamabad opposed
Dawn · Bakhtawar Mian ·
Civil society advocates warn that severe health risks combined with violations of Pakistan’s legal and international treaty obligations will roll back years of progress in tobacco control.
ISLAMABAD: Civil society advocates have strongly opposed any potential move to regularise sheesha smoking in the federal capital, warning that the severe health risks combined with violations of Pakistan’s legal and international treaty obligations would roll back years of progress in tobacco control.
Representatives emphasised that allowing sheesha lounges to operate would directly breach Article 5.3 of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which binds member states to protect public health policies from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry.
The anti-tobacco campaigners representing the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Blue Veins on Thursday met with senior political leader and Member of the National Assembly Farooq Sattar to raise urgent concerns regarding the potential reversal of the sheesha (hookah) ban in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).