October 2024 Newsletter

The October 2024 issue focuses on smoking, vaping, and the need for effective cessation services in Pakistan. The lead story shares the experience of Afnan, who started smoking at the age of 14 and later began smoking around 20 cigarettes a day. Smoking caused health problems such as sinus issues, chest infection, tiredness, and headache.

Afnan switched to vaping in February 2024 after advice from friends and business associates. He was able to quit smoking without becoming a dual user. However, after several months, he felt that vaping was also harming his health and said he wanted to quit vaping too. His experience shows that smokers and vapers need professional guidance, not only advice from friends.

The newsletter also explains that Pakistan has around 31 million tobacco users, with more than half of them being smokers. The economic burden of smoking-related disease and death is very high. The issue says that Pakistan has very limited smoking cessation services, especially in rural areas, and that the national quit-line is not working as effectively as it should.

Another article explains what comprehensive cessation services should include. These services should provide one-to-one counselling, group support, behavioural therapy, nicotine replacement therapy, prescription medicines, follow-up visits, carbon monoxide testing, and flexible access through in-person, phone, and video consultations.

The issue also reports ARI’s call for strengthening Pakistan’s national quit-line and making it functional with proper human and financial resources. It also covers New Zealand’s progress toward achieving its smokefree 2025 goal ahead of time and the call for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to pass an anti-tobacco bill to protect public spaces from secondhand smoke.

The final article, “When pride hinders public health,” argues that public-health policy should follow evidence. It says reduced-risk nicotine products are not risk-free, but may help some adult smokers move away from combustible cigarettes when properly regulated and kept away from youth.

The main story shares the experience of Afnan, a young businessman from Islamabad who started smoking at the age of 14 and later switched to vaping to quit cigarettes. Vaping helped him stop smoking, but he later faced health concerns and struggled to quit vaping. His story shows the need for proper smoking and vaping cessation services in Pakistan.