Kathmandu’s Metropolitan authorities are implementing an 18-month ‘Healthy City Program’ aimed at cracking down on the use of tobacco in public places, according to a story in The Kathmandu Post.
Unveiling the plan on Friday, Mayor Bidhya Sundhar Shakya said there would be no compromises in implementing the program.
“In a bid to control its [tobacco’s] massive use, the government has made it expensive,” said Shakya. “The government makes a good income through it. But public are paying higher amount for their treatment.”
He said the campaign would make clear that smoking and consuming tobacco in public places was punishable.
The existing Tobacco Product (Control and Regulatory) Act-2011 bans smoking in public places such as government and company offices, parks, libraries, airports, public vehicles, childcare centers, cinema halls, hotels, restaurants, department stores, young people’s hostels, industrial and religious sites.
However, the Act has been allowed to become generally ineffective.
Although in February 2016 the city authorities started a crackdown that resulted in the booking of nearly 1,000 people, the drive quickly ran out of puff.
The city authorities say, however, that this time the program will be more effective.
The city’s Public Health Department chief, Hari Kumar Shrestha, said that to control the use of tobacco, a committee of 15-16 people would be formed in all wards to undertake a door-to-door awareness program.
The World Health Organization’s Tobacco Free Initiative has provided Rs10 million to conduct the Healthy City Program in Kathmandu.
If it enforces the ban, Kathmandu will become the 50th city to implement the program.
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