KARACHI: Almost 70 percent of restaurants in a district of Karachi are non complaint with the smoke-free laws exposing its poor implementation.
It is revealed in a recent research study that exposure to secondhand smoke is a significant public health concern.
This study was done by Mahrukh Zafar, Sabahat Naz, Rahat Batool, AbidAli Vancy, Javaid A. Khan and Romaina Iqbal, researchers of the Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi. Study is published in British Medical Journal in December 2024.
The study was done in different tier 40 restaurants according to their meal cost, located in the district east of Karachi. According to details, 17 restaurants were providing a meal in less than 400 rupees (low end), 12 in 400-600 rupees (medium end) and 11 in more than 600 rupees (high end).
Out of these 40 restaurants, almost 70 percent (28) were either non-compliant or partially compliant, with 82 percent of low end and 67 percent of medium end were either non-compliant or partially compliant.
It was noticed that none of the high end restaurants were non-compliant, however 55 percent partially complied with the smoke free laws. More than half (53 percent=21) had no no-smoking signs.
Study revealed that disparities in the compliance of smoke free laws between low end and high end restaurants, highlighting the need to enforce these laws across all restaurant categories effectively, researchers told.
Despite the legislation of the Prohibition of Smoking in Enclosed Places and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance in Pakistan, compliance with these regulations remains inconsistent, experts lamented.
This study findings highlight that merely passing smoke-free legislation is inadequate, and proper implementation of these laws is crucial across all categories of restaurants. Ensuring strict surveillance and enforcement of smoke free laws is an effective strategy that could help achieve our goal of reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, experts recommended.
Complete research can be accessed at this link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39632079/#:~:text=Fifty%20per%20cent%20of%20restaurant,administrative%20bodies%20to%20enforce%20compliance.
