Father of tobacco control bows out

Abdul Sattar Chaudhry by far one of the most eminent public health professionals in Pakistan departed for his heavenly abode on September 15, 2011, leaving his colleagues, friends and family in a state of disbelief.

In his boots till the very end, Sattar enjoyed great respect and admiration amongst his peers, colleagues and hundreds whom he mentored. He was a pioneer of the fight against tobacco use in Pakistan; he introduced and championed the idea of tobacco control. Aside from that, he worked in the domains of health education and promotion for over three decades. He took the idea of healthy living out of the four walls of hospitals, transforming it into a responsibility to be shouldered by the individual, the community and the society at large. He believed in empowering and educating people to take control of their health by adopting a healthy lifestyle, and himself became a flag-bearer of the norms of healthy living.

Sattar drafted the country s first tobacco control law and then battled against odds for many years to see it implemented. Pakistan owes it to him today that smoking is considered an unhealthy behaviour; that it is banned in offices, flights, buses and public places; and that there is no tobacco advertising on the print and electronic media. Sattar was instrumental in getting his country sign and then ratify the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, which places restrictions on tobacco use in countries party to it.

Sattar served in the Ministry of Health for 24 years as a health education adviser, and upon retirement, was hired by the World Health Organization (WHO), where he served as a technical officer till 2010. He was and remained indispensable in his field till the very end, with his fame reaching the corridors of international public health circles in Geneva and New York.

Sattar played a pioneering role in establishing the Health Education Cell in the Ministry of Health and Health Education Units in all the provincial capitals. Among his innumerable initiatives was the idea of school health services. Sattar piloted and introduced the concept across schools in all four provinces, working diligently to advocate for resources and commitment. He personally trained hundreds of teachers. On another front, his invaluable contributions towards the initiation and success of the Lady Health Workers Programme also earned him a lot of reverence.

Sattar did his Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan, USA, in 1967 and Doctorate in Public Health from the American University of Beirut. Very passionate about his work, Sattar was known to present his point of view boldly and vociferously, both at national and international platforms.

Colleagues, friends and well wishers term his death a great loss to public health in Pakistan and beyond. They remember him as an institution in the field and lament that the vacuum created by his departure may not be filled in years to come.

Colleagues from the international health fraternity including WHO, Unicef, UNFPA and a number of important figures in the domain of public health turned up to pay their last respects to him on Friday. Dr. Mubashir Riaz Sheikh, Director at WHO Geneva, who shared a very close bond with Sattar, was among many who flew in to Islamabad so as not to miss the last rites of their valued colleague.

A towering figure, Sattar remained an unsung hero. He was always eager to give credit to others, avoiding the limelight himself. Today, when he is no more, his legacy must live on. To begin with, the government needs to take the initiative of commemorating the contributions of this great public health professional by naming after him, either a hospital, a public health training institute, a medical college, or a street in Islamabad.