{"id":23530,"date":"2025-03-20T13:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T13:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=23530"},"modified":"2025-03-20T13:51:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T13:51:16","slug":"pakistan-says-thr-is-imperative-to-solving-its-smoking-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/pakistan-says-thr-is-imperative-to-solving-its-smoking-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan says THR is \u201cimperative\u201d to solving its smoking crisis\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Promoting nicotine alternatives such as vapes and pouches is \u201cimperative\u201d for Pakistan to cut its alarmingly high smoking rates, an MP has said.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik said tobacco harm reduction (THR) policies are vital for protecting future generations from the risks of smoking and for reducing the country\u2019s spiralling healthcare costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cGlobal THR policies provide a roadmap for reducing smoking-related health burdens. Exploring such strategies is imperative for Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments mark a significant shift from Pakistan\u2019s regulatory approach to tobacco control to date. Global health campaign group Smoke Free Sweden said: \u201cPakistan has yet to integrate harm reduction strategies into its tobacco control framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cInstead, restrictive policies on lower-risk alternatives continue to limit their accessibility, affordability and acceptance among smokers seeking to quit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s smoking crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan is faced with a smoking crisis, with 25.4 million adult smokers<\/a> and 130,000 people dying<\/a> every year from tobacco-related illnesses. It has one of the highest smoking-related death rates in South Asia at 91.1 per 100,000<\/a> people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This far exceeds the regional average (78.1) and the global average (72.6). The economic impact is just as staggering, with smoking reportedly costing the country \u20ac2 billion every year<\/a> – around 1.6 per cent of its GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new report by Smoke Free Sweden urges Pakistani lawmakers to take decisive action by adopting harm reduction measures that have proven successful in Sweden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The landmark study, Tale of Two Nations: Pakistan vs. Sweden<\/em><\/a>, presents a stark contrast between the two countries\u2019 approaches to smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Sweden has been declared the world\u2019s first \u2018smoke-free\u2019 nation \u2013 defined as reducing smoking prevalence below five per cent \u2013 Pakistan\u2019s traditional tobacco control policies have resulted in smoking rates up to four times higher than Sweden\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost a quarter of Pakistani men smoke<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study highlights that smoking prevalence among men in Pakistan remains at 22.2 per cent, more than four times higher than Sweden\u2019s 4.9 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Report author Dr. Delon Human said: \u201cPakistan stands at a crossroads. Sweden has demonstrated that embracing safer nicotine alternatives \u2013 such as snus, nicotine pouches and vaping – while maintaining strong public health policies can drastically cut smoking rates and save lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBy contrast, Pakistan\u2019s current regulatory trajectory risks keeping millions of smokers trapped in a cycle of preventable disease and premature death.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Key recommendations of the report include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Establishing a clear regulatory framework for nicotine pouches and vaping products to ensure affordability and accessibility for adults.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Shifting public health messaging to educate consumers and healthcare professionals on the reduced risks of smoke-free alternatives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Implementing tax policies that make safer nicotine products more attractive than cigarettes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Establishing and enforcing minimum-age restrictions on all nicotine products to prevent youth uptake.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cPakistan can no longer afford to ignore the overwhelming global evidence on tobacco harm reduction,\u201d Dr. Human said. \u201cFollowing Sweden\u2019s lead could prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths and create a healthier future for millions of Pakistanis.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Promoting nicotine alternatives such as vapes and pouches is \u201cimperative\u201d for Pakistan to cut its alarmingly high smoking rates, an MP has said.\u00a0 Pakistan\u2019s Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik said tobacco harm reduction (THR) policies are vital…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":23531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257],"tags":[],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-23530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23537,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23530\/revisions\/23537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23530"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=23530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}