Protect young people from underage smoking

Dear Editor,

Underage smoking in Pakistan, especially in rural areas, is a problem which has been accepted as usual part of day to day life. According to one of the statistics, out of every five adult smokers, two started smoking before they were ten years old. This is the biggest hurdle to ending smoking Pakistan. Unless we shield our young, some of whom start smoking before the age of ten, we will never be able to end smoking from the country. The federal and provincial governments need to come up with legislative and administrative measures to discourage smoking. In this regard, the real responsibility lies with the provincial governments.