January 2022 Newsletter

This newsletter presents smoking cessation as a complex public-health issue in Pakistan. It explains that tobacco causes serious diseases and deaths worldwide, and Pakistan has millions of tobacco users using products such as cigarettes, hookah, shisha, paan, gutka, and niswar. The newsletter notes that Pakistan has taken some tobacco-control steps, including taxation, warning legislation, bans on public smoking and advertising, and restrictions around educational institutions, but implementation remains weak.

The newsletter argues that cigarette taxation can reduce consumption, but in Pakistan and other low- and middle-income countries, taxes alone are not enough. Low cigarette prices, illicit cigarettes, weak governance, poor-quality local products, and limited cessation infrastructure reduce the effectiveness of taxation. It explains that smoking is addictive and influenced by age, gender, income, peer pressure, family factors, and social environment.

The issue recommends that Pakistan should work on two major fronts: increasing public awareness about the harms of combustible smoking and enforcing tobacco-control laws, while also providing affordable and accessible smoking cessation platforms. It also suggests that tobacco harm reduction and nicotine replacement therapy can support smokers who are unable to quit immediately, but these options remain expensive, limited, poorly understood, and largely unregulated in Pakistan.

The newsletter also discusses international policy and communication issues. It reports that Thailand was considering legalising e-cigarettes to reduce cigarette smoking. It also highlights criticism of the CDC’s handling of EVALI, arguing that poor communication may have discouraged smokers from switching to lower-risk nicotine products. Another article discusses Bloomberg Philanthropies’ refusal to engage with experts seeking a discussion on vaping evidence and tobacco harm reduction.