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| WHO for complete ban on tobacco advertising |
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Monday, March 02, 2009
by Shahina Maqbool
Islamabad
Half measures are not enough. We urge the government of Pakistan to impose a complete ban on tobacco advertising; to withdraw the Statutory Regulatory Order allowing creation of Designated Smoking Areas as a prelude to creation of 100 percent smoke-free environments and to raise tobacco taxation.
The acting representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ahmad Shadoul, expressed these views while addressing participants of a ‘Youth Hike for Tobacco Control’ that started from Trail 3 and ended at Gokina on the Margallas here on Sunday.
The hike, which was organised by the Tobacco Control Cell of the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the National Volunteer Movement of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and WHO, was aimed at sensitising young people about the fact that they are the primary target of the tobacco industry in Pakistan.
The hike also served to awaken the country’s policy-makers from their deep slumber. The Ministry of Health has been delaying withdrawal of the controversial order on DSAs in spite of the existence of scientific evidence, and strong objections raised by WHO, the National Alliance for Tobacco Control, the Coalition for Tobacco Control and other members of the anti-tobacco lobby.
“Youth is the backbone of every nation,” Ahmad Shadoul stated, before moving on to explain how the multibillion dollar tobacco industry targets young people by falsely associating use of tobacco products with qualities such as glamour, energy and sex appeal. “In order to survive, the tobacco industry needs to replace those who quit or die with new young consumers. The industry does this by creating a complex tobacco marketing net that ensnares millions of young people worldwide, with potentially devastating health consequences,” Shadoul said.
The WHO chief said recent studies prove that the more young people are exposed to tobacco advertising, the more likely they are to start smoking. He said “When one form of advertising is banned, the tobacco industry simply shifts its vast resources to another channel.”
Other prominent officials at the hike included Additional Secretary Youth Affairs Naeem Baig; Director General Implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) Shaheen Masud, and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Babar Awan who was on his regular hike but then joined the participants to give visibility to the tobacco menace and the health hazards associated with it.
Naeem Baig called upon the media act as a watchdog and point out the flaws and violations of the anti-tobacco ordinance. He also said that the young hikers will act as role models and anti-tobacco ambassadors. The event started with registration of participants, who also received T-shirts and P-caps. The participants were carrying placards inscribed with slogans like ‘Sheesha smoking is not cool, it’s killing you,’ ‘Protect yourself from secondhand smoke’ and ‘Don’t be duped: Tobacco kills in every form.’
Earlier, Shaheen Masud told young people that tobacco is the only consumer product that kills up to 50% of its regular users when used as intended by its manufacturers. “The tobacco industry spends millions of rupees in the country annually in marketing their deadly products. Their activities are intended to bring young and hopefully lifelong tobacco users into the fold. The transition from high school to college is a critical period to adopt healthy habits and lifestyles. Unfortunately, during this vulnerable period, many of our young people fall victim to aggressive marketing by the tobacco industry and become regular smokers. Almost 1,200 young Pakistanis take up smoking everyday,” Shaheen said.
Sadly, tobacco use among females in Pakistan is also rapidly increasing. The boy-to-girl tobacco use ratio is shrinking at an alarming rate. Shaheen attributed this increase to popularity of ‘sheesha,’ water-pipe smoking of fruit-flavoured tobacco. She also removed the misconceptions about ‘sheesha.’ “It is generally thought that ‘sheesha’ smoking is not hazardous to health because its nicotine content is less than that of cigarettes, and that addition of fruit flavours make it healthier. Another factor adding to its popularity is its social acceptability and portrayal as a symbol of modernization. In reality, the ‘sheesha’ smoker may inhale as much smoke during one session as a cigarette smoker would inhale consuming 100 or more cigarettes and therefore poses a similar threat to health as smoking,” she informed.
Tobacco is a global pandemic infiltrating the poorest nations in the world. It kills 5 million people every year around the world. In Pakistan, there are an estimated 22-25 million smokers. Tobacco use in Pakistan is common and 55% of the households have at least one individual who smokes tobacco. In Pakistan, about 100,000 people die annually from diseases caused by tobacco use, which does not only occur in the form of cigarettes but also includes ‘beedis’ (hand rolled cigarettes), ‘huqqa’, ‘shisha’ (water pipe) and chewing tobacco.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
