Afghanistan Times
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AT-KABUL: Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) on Wednesday launched a two weeks campaign to reduce disposable plastic bags pollution and protect environment.
Deputy Minister of Public Health, Ahmad Jan Naeem, said that widespread use of disposable plastics bag is greatest threat to the environment, wildlife and human beings.
Launching the nationwide campaign to reduce usage of plastic bags, he said that in order to reduce disposable plastic bag pollution, the ministry in cooperation with other relevant organizations had kicked off the campaign. “Through this campaign our teams will try to create awareness in public about harms of using plastic and pollution caused by it. The teams will also distribute reusable cloth bags to create culture of using non plastic bags in the country. Citizens will also be told to dispose plastic-made items properly,” he said.
Regarding harms of plastic bags, the deputy minister said that plastic bags are made of different chemicals that are hard on environment, contaminate water and soil and kill marine and wildlife. Carrying food in plastic bag contaminates food stuff and lead to some serious diseases such as mental problems, tiredness, impatience, breathing problem, cancer, skin problems, and poor growth in children.
Although, the government three years ago had run a campaign to limit usage of plastic bags, but due to open borders with neighboring country this campaign failed badly. The government wanted to stop businessmen from importing plastic bags and bans as well as its use in the country.
According to reports, 500 billion plastic bags are used annually that cause air, soil and water pollution. The health ministry asked public to start using cloth bags to protect the environment.
