KARACHI: Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Monday demanded the government to control environmental pollution and implement the No-Smoking Ordinance 2002.
The Asthma Day is being marked today all over the world, the PMA, on this occasion, takes an opportunity to highlight this issue and create awareness among the people of Pakistan about this disease, said the PMA statement issued here.
At least seven million people are suffering from asthma in Pakistan. The number of patients with bronchial asthma is increasing geometrically in Pakistan, particularly, in Karachi, because of air pollution.
Worsening air pollution in Karachi is behind a sharp surge in the cases of asthma and people of all ages are being affected due to a poor quality of air, said the statement.
Dust particles and smoke content in the air of the metropolis are alarmingly high, due to haphazard construction work, old public transport vehicles and very limited greenery and parks.
The government, at federal, provincial and city level, is not serious to tackle this issue. For last two decades, not a single new park has been established in the city, while thousands of very old, smoky and road-unfit public transport buses and minibuses run on the city road under the patronage of corrupt police officials.
A balanced diet, regular exercise and proper medicines are considerably helpful to reduce the gravity of this disease. Prevention is better than cure, so people are advised to follow the preventive measure to avoid asthma and its complications.
