President Asif Ali Zardari stressed that it was their shared responsibility to protect current and future generations from the harms of tobacco products.

“The time has come that, besides other issues, our national parliament and provincial legislatures make laws and create effective enforcement mechanisms to protect our people and future generations and effectively resist the merchants of death,” the president said in his message on ‘World No Tobacco Day’, being observed on May 31.

He said, besides, parliament and the government, parents, teachers, artists, poets, singers, musicians, actors, playwrights, healthcare professionals and community leaders all have a role in shaping awareness, discouraging the use of tobacco products.