February 2025 Newsletter

The February 2025 issue focuses on working with smokers and communities to help Pakistan move toward a smoke-free future. The lead story reports that ARI and its Punjab partners held meetings with adult smokers, vapers, tobacco users, doctors, and civil society members in Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Lahore.

The newsletter also reports that ARI’s Sindh partners held community awareness sessions in Karachi East, Hyderabad, Karachi South, Khairpur, and Sukkur. These sessions aimed to protect youth from smoking and help adults quit. Speakers discussed the health risks of tobacco, the benefits of quitting, and the role of parents and communities in creating smoke-free spaces.

The issue explains that Pakistan has more than 31 million tobacco users, including 17 million cigarette smokers. Smoking kills about 160,000 people every year in Pakistan and causes an economic cost of around Rs615 billion per year. Many participants said they wanted to quit, but lack of awareness and lack of access to cessation services were major barriers.

The newsletter also includes personal stories of tobacco users. Sarfaraz, a 63-year-old retired government servant, smoked for more than four decades and suffered serious heart problems before quitting through strong determination and family support. Abdul Latif, a 60-year-old social activist, shared his long struggle with pan and gutka and the health problems caused by oral tobacco.

Another important article reports ARI’s call for district-level smoking cessation services across Pakistan. ARI says cessation support should be integrated into primary healthcare, health workers should be trained, and public awareness campaigns should inform people where they can get help. The issue also suggests learning from the United Kingdom’s smoking cessation model.

The newsletter also discusses tobacco harm reduction and smoking cessation as approaches that can work together. It explains that quitting nicotine completely is the best goal, but adult smokers who cannot quit may need less harmful alternatives. Another article says vaping may help reduce health inequalities when it is sensibly regulated and used by adult smokers as a lower-risk alternative to cigarettes.

The final section describes tobacco use as a continuing public-health challenge and explains the many diseases linked with smoking. It also reports Global Action to End Smoking’s grants for programs that support high-risk and marginalized populations in quitting smoking.

The main story highlights ARI and its partner organizations working directly with adult smokers, vapers, tobacco users, doctors, and communities in Punjab and Sindh. The meetings focused on helping adult smokers quit, protecting youth from smoking, and making smokers part of national tobacco control policy. The story stresses that Pakistan needs effective cessation services and strong community support to move toward a smoke-free future.