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Despite having sufficient knowledge about the potential health risks associated with nicotine exposure, an increasing number of young people are getting hooked on e-cigarettes, smoking devices that are powered by a battery, says a study recently published in an online journal. Over 800 individuals with mean age 29.6 years participated in the study during which 43.4 per cent respondents reported using e-cigarettes. “This is significantly higher than a 2017 study conducted among adolescents when prevalence of e-cigarettes was just 24 per cent. The current study also found that the mean age at which people start using e-cigarettes is 17 years and that 58 per cent of people believe smoking makes young people look ‘cool’,” it says.

Media can play a strong role to counter the deceptive campaigns of tobacco industry to promote harmful emerging tobacco products in Pakistani youth, health activists said during a consultation organized by Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC).

The health activists and the senior journalists explored the need to ban emerging products such as nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices, as they are becoming increasingly popular among Pakistani youth due to elaborate advertisement and promotional campaigns, said in a press release issued here on Sunday.

Islamabad : A 50 per cent increase in price would lead to the same amount of reduction in cigarette demand in Pakistan as majority of smokers would prefer to quit instead of switching to other brands.

This is revealed in a research study, ‘Switch, Reduce or Quit: How do smokers respond to tobacco tax increases in Pakistan,’ carried out by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics in Islamabad.

Pakistan is one of 15 countries worldwide with a heavy burden of tobacco-related ill-health. Despite considerable tobacco control efforts, the smoking incidence in the country is not decreasing fast enough. Which is why tobacco harm reduction needs to be an additional measure complementary to the existing tobacco control efforts in the country. Advances in science and technology have enabled the development of better alternatives to smoking, presenting a huge opportunity for improving public health, if acted upon.

New drugs that are getting increasingly popular among youth, especially girls, are as damaging as cigarettes and government need to utilize all its resources to ban such products that are openly available in the market. The views were expressed at a meeting of a delegation of anti-tobacco activists with Chairperson National Commission for Child Rights Afshan Tehseen Bajwa on Wednesday. [...] They said that the use of nicotine pouches continues to increase in the younger generation which dangerous for their health. They warned that younger generation, especially girls, are being pushed towards using a new brand using nicotine pouches.

Tobacco control activists demand that the government shall increase FED on tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco products, in Pakistan. Currently, there are two tax slabs for cigarettes. An amount of Rs33 FED is imposed on cigarettes costing less than Rs90 per packet and Rs90 on cigarettes with a price of Rs90 and above. However, these taxes are still below the standard set by World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) to which Pakistan is a signatory since 2005. FCTC requires signatories to optimally impose a 75% tax on the retail price of cigarette packs. [...]

Tobacco harm reduction (THR) is a health strategy implemented to curtail the risks associated with tobacco products to users and society at large. The concept of THR dates back to 1976 when Professor Michael Russell, also considered the father of tobacco harm reduction, stated that people smoke for nicotine but they die from the tar. Russell’s advocacy that the ratio of tar to nicotine could be the key to a less harmful smoking experience has served as a stencil for strategies implemented against tobacco harm by health organizations today.

Islamabad : Even though a belated development, medical professionals and representatives of tobacco control entities in Pakistan have finally broken the silence around whether e-cigarettes (ECs) should be promoted as effective anti-smoking aids for smokers attempting to quit. The impetus to discuss the use of ECs for smoking cessation—a subject mired in controversy—came from the recently released Cochrane Review which provides “moderate-certainty evidence” that nicotine containing ECs are 70% more effective in supporting smokers to quit as compared to nicotine-free ECs, and even Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). [...]

Parliamentary Secretary of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination Dr Nausheen Hamid on Wednesday said in order to address the challenges of tobacco control and associated health issues in the country, the national health services ministry in consultation with all stakeholders was working on the country’s first-ever draft National Tobacco Control Policy, which would be finalised within a month. Dr Nausheen Hamid said that research regarding alternative crop against tobacco is currently underway by three agriculture universities to help facilitate the tobacco growers and farmers.

Shanghai scientists have located brain areas of smokers and drinkers, bringing new insights and opening possibilities for stopping addictive behavior. They found that regular smokers tend to have low functional connectivity, especially in the brain area associated with the processing of punishment, while those who drink often have high brain connectivity, especially in the reward-related brain area.