ISLAMABAD: A policy dialogue, jointly organized by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) and Vital Strategies, has demanded strict measures for safeguarding Pakistani children from the harms of tobacco products.
Dr Ziauddin Islam, Country Lead Tobacco Control, Vital Strategies, citing a research report here on Tuesday said that the tobacco industry was promoting their products, focusing on youth and kids to lure them towards this addiction. He further said that such products deliver varying amounts of the addictive chemical nicotine, which can negatively impact youth learning, attention span, and proneness to addiction. Dr Islam demanded a complete ban on such nicotine pouches and appealed to the government for adopting necessary legislation at the earliest to save Pakistan’s youth.
Malik Imran Ahmed, Country Head, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK), mentioned that the tobacco industry was trying to conquer the minds of children by manipulating them through different tactics. In order to become popular among children and youth, the tobacco industry had introduced novel products (nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes and heated products), he warned, adding it was using social media and web advertisements for sales and promotion. Ahmed stressed that the tobacco industry was also engaging celebrities to promote these products.
Khalil Ahmed Dogar, Program Manager SPARC, mentioned that under World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Pakistan had committed to implementing pro-child measures to protect children from the harms of tobacco. There was a dire need to ensure strict implementation of the tobacco healthy levy, increase in tobacco tax, ban on novel products and zero sales of tobacco products near educational institutions, besides adopting a sustainable National Tobacco Control Policy to safeguard the children and youth from perils of tobacco.