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Business Recorder
a day ago
- Health
- Business Recorder
World No Tobacco Day: WHO, GoP join hands to deal with devastating economic & health impacts
ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan and the World Health Organization (WHO) have joined hands to jointly collaborate to deal with the devastating economic and health impacts of tobacco, which annually results in the deaths of 164,000 people and financially cause Rs700 billion or $2.5 billion losses to the country. The development came here on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day jointly organised by the WHO and the Ministry of National Health Services. The participants emphasised that all tobacco products on the market, without exception and regardless of the manufacturer, are extremely harmful to health and pose serious risks to people of all ages including children and teenagers. Speaking on the occasion, Additional Secretary Health Laeeq Ahmad said that Pakistan was a proud signatory to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Pakistan remains firmly committed to implementing comprehensive, evidence-based measures to reduce tobacco use. He thanked all partners, including WHO, for their unwavering support. 'Together, let us work towards a tobacco-free Pakistan, a nation where our people can live, work, and thrive in an environment that values health, safety, and well-being,' He said that Pakistan in collaboration with WHO and other partners was committed to work together on urgent and sustainable measures to save lives. Measures include long-term increased taxation, advertising bans, regulation on plan packaging and product design to reduce appeal – especially to vulnerable populations such as children and teenagers, tobacco and nicotine-free public spaces, strict enforcement of tobacco control laws, and medical support for those who want to quit. Research has shown that measures such as tobacco taxation are effective in increasing revenues for the government while also reducing consumption, tobacco-related diseases, and pressure on health systems. Pakistan ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2004, and WHO provides continuous technical support to the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination and the Federal Board of Revenue in areas such as tobacco tax policy and track-and-trace implementation. WHO Deputy Representative in Pakistan Ellen Thom said, 'The 164,000 people dead to tobacco every year are not just numbers. They are workers with families. They are sons and daughters. They are also teenagers and children, who are particularly vulnerable and an easy target for the advertisement of the tobacco industry. Let us unmask the appeal. Tobacco is not a candy; it is a killer, and we need to protect our children, our families, and our communities.' Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
News18
2 days ago
- Health
- News18
World No Tobacco Day 2025: Trying To Quit Tobacco? Add These Foods To Your Diet
In 1987, WHO's Member States declared April 7, 1988, as a 'World No-Smoking Day' to mark WHO's 40th anniversary. Later, the WHO passed a resolution to observe World No Tobacco Day on May 31. Since then, the organisation has used this platform to highlight tobacco-related health risks and raise more awareness. advetisement In 1998, WHO launched the Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI) to strengthen global efforts, followed by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2003, a treaty adopted by many countries, including India, to reduce tobacco use. World No Tobacco Day 2025: Significance World No Tobacco Day plays a critical role in educating people about the harmful effects of tobacco. As per estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year, which makes it the leading cause of preventable deaths. The day also exposes the tobacco industry's manipulative tactics, such as targeting youth with appealing flavours and sleek designs. It also encourages individuals to quit tobacco and pushes governments to enforce stricter regulations, like bans on advertising and higher taxes on tobacco products. World No Tobacco Day 2025: Key Facts Tobacco kills up to half its users, contributing to diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke, and respiratory illnesses. Around 80 per cent of the world's 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries. In 2020, 22.3 per cent of the world's population used tobacco: 36.7 per cent of men and 7.8 per cent of women. Tobacco kills up to half of its users who don't quit (1–3). The tobacco industry uses flavours and marketing to attract youth, with e-cigarette ads reaching over 3.4 billion views on social media. Tobacco production harms the environment through deforestation, chemical use, and waste. World No Tobacco Day 2025: Foods To Help Fight Tobacco Addiction Quitting tobacco is challenging, but certain foods can support the process by reducing cravings and repairing the body. Fruits and Vegetables: Apples, carrots, and celery keep hands and mouth busy, curbing the urge to smoke. Vitamin C-rich foods like oranges help repair damage caused by tobacco. Whole Grains: Oats and brown rice stabilise blood sugar, reducing irritability during withdrawal. Nuts and Seeds: Chewing almonds or sunflower seeds distracts from cravings and provides healthy fats. Milk and Dairy: These can make cigarettes taste unpleasant, discouraging smoking. Herbal Teas: Ginger or peppermint tea soothes stress and supports detoxification. Drinking plenty of water also flushes nicotine from the body, aiding recovery. Advertisement Flavoured Tobacco: A Sweet Trap Leading to Serious Harm, Warns Oncologist According to Dr. Meghal Sanghavi, Oncologist at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central, flavoured and glamorised tobacco products may seem less harmful — but that's exactly the danger. 'These products are designed to appeal to young people by masking the seriousness of addiction," he warned. 'Fruity flavours and sleek packaging often give a false sense of safety, drawing teenagers into early nicotine use." Dr. Sanghavi expressed deep concern over the rising number of young individuals being exposed to such products. He cautioned, 'Early tobacco use significantly increases the risk of cancers, especially of the mouth, throat, and lungs. What feels like a harmless trend today can lead to life-threatening diseases tomorrow. Awareness and early prevention are absolutely critical." advetisement World No Tobacco Day 2025: Celebrations World No Tobacco Day is marked by global and local events, including awareness rallies, poster competitions, and social media campaigns. Schools and communities organise educational programs to inform people about tobacco's negative effects on health. Governments often use this day to launch new anti-tobacco policies, such as smoking bans in public places or plain packaging laws. Individuals can participate by sharing anti-tobacco messages, supporting friends to quit, or pledging to stay tobacco-free. Jupiter Hospital, Thane Introduces De-Addiction Support Group On World No Tobacco Day 2025 In a significant step towards holistic healthcare, Jupiter Hospital, Thane launched its Tobacco De-Addiction Support Group on World No Tobacco Day. To mark this initiative, the hospital collaborated with the World Pranic Healing Foundation, founded by Master Choa Kok Sui, to host a pilot session on Twin Hearts Meditation and Pranic Healing. This event brought together medical experts, wellness professionals, Pranic Healers, patients, survivors, and individuals aiming to quit tobacco use, highlighting the growing importance of incorporating complementary therapies like energy healing and meditation into mainstream de-addiction programs. The Tobacco De-Addiction Support Group aims to provide long-term, comprehensive care for individuals seeking to overcome tobacco addiction. It goes beyond conventional medical treatment by offering emotional, psychological, and holistic wellness support, empowering individuals on their journey towards a healthier, tobacco-free life. The support group will hold monthly sessions, ensuring regular engagement and encouragement for participants throughout their recovery. Dr. Alpa Dalal, Head of Pulmonary Medicine, Jupiter Hospital, Thane, stated, 'Tobacco addiction is a multifaceted condition that harms both the body and mind. At Jupiter Hospital, Thane, we treat our patients not only medically but also emotionally and psychologically." The World Pranic Healing Foundation conducted the pilot session, showcasing how energy-based, no-touch, drug-free therapies are emerging as valuable complementary tools in de-addiction and rehabilitation programs. With addiction often linked to deep emotional and psychological patterns, experts increasingly advocate for integrating energy healing and meditation into mainstream healthcare. At the core of this initiative is Twin Hearts Meditation, a guided technique that relieves stress, clears negative emotions, and builds emotional resilience. Its regular practice strengthens willpower, clarity, and inner peace, which are crucial for overcoming addictive tendencies.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Flavoured Nicotine Products Driving Youth Addiction, WHO Warns
This is especially true among youth users: it's one of the main reasons young people experiment with tobacco or nicotine products in the first place, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO). Flavoured nicotine and tobacco products are inherently addictive and toxic – often more so than regular tobacco. Flavours increase usage, make quitting harder, and have been linked to serious lung diseases, WHO maintains. Despite decades of progress in tobacco control, flavoured products are luring a new generation into addiction and contributing to eight million tobacco-related deaths each year. Youth-oriented marketing Nicotine products are often marketed directly toward young people through bright and colourful packaging featuring sweet and fruity flavour descriptors. Research shows that this type of advertising can trigger reward centres in adolescent brains and weaken the impact of health warnings. Young people also report a growing presence of flavoured nicotine product marketing across all social media platforms. This marketing of flavours works across all forms of nicotine and tobacco products, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pouches and hookahs. WHO said flavours such as menthol, bubble gum and cotton candy, are 'masking the harshness of tobacco' and other nicotine products, turning what are toxic products 'into youth-friendly bait.' Call for action Just ahead of World No Tobacco Day, the UN health agency released a series of fact sheets and called on governments to ban all flavours in tobacco and nicotine products to protect young people from lifelong addiction and disease. It cited Articles 9 and 10 of the successful 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which obliges countries to regulate the contents and disclosure of tobacco products, including flavourings. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday that ' without bold action, the global tobacco epidemic…will continue to be driven by addiction dressed up with appealing flavours. ' As of December 2024, over 50 countries had adopted policies regulating tobacco additives, with most targeting flavourings by banning flavour labels or images and restricting the sale of flavored products. Some also control flavour use during production. However, the WHO noted that tobacco companies and retailers have found ways to circumvent these rules, offering flavour accessories including sprays, cards, capsules and filter tips, to add to unflavoured products. Still, WHO is urging all 184 FCTC parties (which make up 90 per cent of the world's population) to implement and enforce strong bans and restrictions on flavoured products and related additives.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Anti Tobacco Forum opposes reported launch of nicotine-laced candies, toffees, and ice creams
Anti Tobacco Forum (ATF), Mysuru, has opposed the reported launch of nicotine-laced candies, toffees, and ice creams by the tobacco industry in different parts of the world. In a statement issued on the eve of 'World No Tobacco Day 2025' on the theme 'Unmasking the appeal: Exposing industry tactics on tobacco and nicotine products', Vasanthkumar Mysoremath, convenor of ATF, Mysuru, said the nicotine-laced products launched by tobacco industry have emerged as the newest threat to public health from tobacco that is already claiming a large number of deaths worldwide. Designed to make the children and youth of today addicted to tobacco, these nicotine-laced products should be banned by the authorities like e-cigarettes, said Mr. Mysoremath. 'Tobacco industry is aiming at turning children into addicts to increase profits,' said Mr. Mysmoremath, while pointing out that WHO expects to create awareness in the minds of children/adults about the harmful effects of consuming tobacco products and wants countries to adopt stronger policies, including a ban on flavours that make tobacco and nicotine products more appealing for protecting public health. Pointing out tobacco kills 8 million people annually, he said tobacco consumption leads to various non-communicable diseases like cancer, blood pressure, lung infection, asthma, etc. Mr. Mysoremath regretted that many governments of signatory countries to the WHO-sponsored Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) are found to be adopting dual standards in implementing the guidelines prescribed in FCTC. 'Some countries even subsidise tobacco cultivation by financing through supply of implements, concessions for fertilizers, easy loans through government banks, procuring excess grown tobacco by licensed and unlicensed growers, insurance money of policy holders invested in tobacco companies, elected political leaders assuring tobacco farmers to continue to grow quality tobacco and participating in events organised by tobacco farmers association and tobacco industry,' he said. 'Why is cultivation, production, and supply system of tobacco not being efficiently controlled is the big question?', he asked and wondered why the authorities, who had the discretion to either withdraw or cancel the permits and sanctions to grow tobacco and start tobacco products manufacturing facility,were not doing so. In order to help farmers give up tobacco farming and become debt-free, Mr. Mysoremath sought the creation of a corpus from the Budget or seek international funding and clear the outstanding loans of farmers as a one-time tobacco control measure and withdraw their licenses to cultivate tobacco with an affidavit that they will adopt alternate crops. 'This way, it is possible to effectively control the raw material supply to the tobacco industry,' he said.
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Tobacco taxation discourse: Concern raised over recurring pattern of global interventions
ISLAMABAD: Mubashir Akram, National Convenor of ACT Alliance Pakistan, has emphasised the need to safeguard Pakistan's fiscal sovereignty by ensuring that tax policymaking remains anchored in national interests and grounded in local realities. Speaking with journalists in Islamabad, Akram expressed concern over the recurring pattern of international interventions in Pakistan's tobacco taxation discourse, particularly in the weeks leading up to the federal budget. He noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently taken a more prominent role in advocating for tax increases on tobacco products, following years of similar activism by foreign-funded entities such as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) and Vital Strategies. These organisations, he pointed out, 'operated in Pakistan for extended periods without securing the required No Objection Certificate from the Economic Affairs Division and registration with the Ministry of Interior.' 'While we value public health as a national priority, it is essential to ensure that our tax policies are developed through transparent, consultative processes and not imposed through externally funded campaigns,' Akram stated. 'These campaigns often overlook the complex enforcement environment in Pakistan and fail to differentiate between legal, tax-compliant businesses and those operating outside the regulatory net.' Akram further questioned the consistency of WHO's global advocacy, highlighting the contrast between its policy prescriptions for Pakistan and the regulatory practices in its host country, Switzerland. 'Despite championing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) globally, Switzerland has yet to ratify it. The country permits tobacco sponsorships, advertising, and retail marketing practices that run counter to FCTC principles, with some basic restrictions only coming into force as recently as late 2024,' he remarked. He stressed that any call for aggressive tax hikes must be tempered with practical considerations of enforcement and market dynamics. 'Pakistan's tobacco sector suffers an annual revenue loss of over Rs. 30 billion due to illegal trade, tax evasion, and regulatory non-compliance. The legal industry, already burdened by high tax rates implemented in 2023, cannot sustain further pressure without risking a complete market imbalance.' He added that Pakistan will risk losing nearly Rs 300 billion in tax revenue that the legal industry pays to the national exchequer, and 'this will further embolden the illegal cigarette industry.' Akram urged the government to prioritise the stability of its formal economic sectors, including legal tobacco manufacturers, by reinforcing enforcement mechanisms and curbing illicit trade. 'We are witnessing a shrinking market share for the legal industry, which undermines both public health goals and national revenue targets,' he said. He concluded by reaffirming ACT Alliance Pakistan's commitment to constructive policy dialogue. 'We call upon the Government of Pakistan to continue strengthening institutional capacity and to shield national policymaking from undue external influence. Tax decisions must be based on economic modeling, enforcement data, and broad stakeholder engagement rather than narratives shaped abroad. Protecting our economic decision-making space is essential to ensuring sustainable development and regulatory integrity.' Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
