{"id":50447,"date":"2024-09-30T14:33:23","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T09:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=50447"},"modified":"2024-09-30T14:33:23","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T09:33:23","slug":"pakistan-at-crossroads-in-battle-against-smoking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/pakistan-at-crossroads-in-battle-against-smoking\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan at crossroads in battle against smoking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistan is grappling with an alarming <a href=\"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/kp-assembly-lowers-tobacco-tax-rate-in-amended-finance-bill\/\">smoking<\/a> prevalence. Despite various tobacco control measures, the rate of smoking remains high, reflecting the failure of current anti-smoking policies.<\/p>\n<p>A recent study examining 390 million individuals across the Middle East, as well as Pakistan and Egypt, revealed that 61 million adults are smokers, with many at risk of severe well-being complications by 2060.<\/p>\n<p>The study proposes Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) as a more promising solution. THR provides adult smokers who may not want to quit with access to reduced-risk alternatives, such as heated tobacco products (HTPs), vapes, and oral nicotine pouches.<\/p>\n<p>The World Health Organization (WHO), which has long campaigned against smoking without endorsing THR products, acknowledges that smoking rates in these regions are expected to see only a slight reduction unless substantial changes are made, according to the study.<\/p>\n<p>Countries like Japan and Sweden, which have embraced THR along with appropriate regulation and taxation policies, are making significant strides in reducing smoking prevalence.<\/p>\n<p>However, Pakistan has been reluctant to adopt harm reduction strategies, largely due to resistance from Anti-Tobacco Organizations (ATOs). This approach has proven ineffective, as smoking rates remain persistently high, underscoring the need for a fresh perspective.<\/p>\n<p>The WHO, as a leading global health authority, should take the lead in influencing ATOs to reconsider their stance on THR. By acknowledging the effectiveness of these alternatives in reducing smoking-related harm, WHO can guide ATOs in Pakistan and beyond to support harm reduction strategies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistan is grappling with an alarming smoking prevalence. Despite various tobacco control measures, the rate of smoking remains high, reflecting the failure of current anti-smoking policies. A recent study examining 390 million individuals across the Middle East, as well as Pakistan and Egypt, revealed that 61 million adults are smokers, with many at risk of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":50448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50449,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50447\/revisions\/50449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}