PTA Assures ICT Industry Support To Fight Drug Abuse Among Youth

Dr Ismail Shah-Chairman PTA assured his organization and the ICT Industry support to create awareness and fight drug abuse amongst Pakistani youth in a special meeting held today at PTA Headquarter.  A briefing session was attended by PTA Members, officers, Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Karim Khan Afridi Welfare Foundation (KKAWF) and the Mobile Network Operators.  PTA Assures ICT Industry Support To Fight Drug Abuse Among Youth.

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KKAWF gave presentation regarding the challenges faced by the society from the menace of drugs and how the ICT Industry can help to meet some of these challenges by spreading awareness and promoting healthy life style amongst the youth. Karmi Khan Afridi Welfare Foundation asked participant organizations to introduce low cost sports among youth to eradicate drug addiction. Narcotic addiction can be reduced in Pakistan by educating mothers so that they can guide their children in a better way.

PTA Assures ICT Industry Support To Fight Drug Abuse Among Youth

Successfully educating children to stay away from drugs and alcohol is an ongoing process that begins at a young age. The discussion ideally starts with parents. However on national level it requires a concrete action plan. KKAWF was launched in June, 2015 in Islamabad by Mrs. Cristina Von Sperling Afridi and Ambassador (Retd.) Tariq Khan Afridi  who lost their son in 2014, and it became their inspiration and a motivational force to engage and facilitate the youth in protecting their lives that are vulnerable to the dangers of drug abuse.

The speakers from ANF informed that drugs are smuggled to Pakistan and other western countries through the porous borders and the Afghan Government has failed to cope with the increasing production. The participants stressed that the international community should raise their voice against the increasing growth of drug production and it smuggling from Afghanistan that has reach an alarming proportion in the last couple of years. According to Anti-Narcotics Force and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2015 Pakistan had more than 6.7 million drug addicts. 

The basic idea behind the briefing session at PTA was to bring awareness and chalk out an action plan on how mobile operators can facilitate various initiatives by ANF and KKAWF for eradicating drug addiction from youth. Maximum population of Pakistan comprises of youth which are the most vulnerable segment when it comes to drugs use-which is spreading more rapidly in our education institutions.

Dr Ismail Shah ensured that the PTA will provide every possible support in collaboration with industry to fight narcotic use among the adolescents. He said PTA is already blocking drug related sites and requested the stakeholders to identify what other steps could be taken to promote healthy activities among youth. PTA also constituted focal persons that would work on charting out an action plan and the suggestions made by the participants. It shall also seek support of all the stakeholders specially on awareness programs and on developing awareness mobile applications.

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