National TV channels to air messages on tobacco control

Islamabad

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has agreed to support the transmission of tobacco control messages and other priority public health service announcements on all national television channels and FM radio stations in Pakistan.

The agreement, which has been reached in response to a request by the Ministry of Health Services, is in line with the Public Service Message (PSM) ruling contained within the Pemra Ordinance, which obliges licensees of television stations in Pakistan to allocate up to 10 percent of their air time to public service messages, including priority health and social welfare programmes delivered to communities in Pakistan.

The initial pilot communication campaign to launch on all stations is called ‘Sponge.’ This public service announcement has already run on national channels through a paid media plan in 2016. The announcement is a powerful tobacco control message that has been successfully pre-tested in the region and is now being used in health campaigns in more than 20 countries.

The ‘Sponge’ campaign spots will run on all stations in the lead-up to World No Tobacco Day on May 31 – a day that will also remind the government of its unfulfilled promise made exactly on the same day in 2015 regarding an increase in the size of pictorial health warnings to cover 85% of cigarette packs.

Following review of the compliance report by Pemra and the Ministry of Health, a number of future campaigns are already being planned to tackle the scourge of tobacco and other NCD risk factors, given the enormous health care costs and productivity losses to the economy from non-communicable diseases.

Commenting on the development, the Minister of State for Health said; “This is a historic moment where the national media networks will be working with the government to raise awareness on critical health issues aimed at reducing the burden of death and disease caused by tobacco.”

The Director of the Tobacco Control Cell stated: “We are pleased to see that tobacco control messages have been given a priority with the first pilot campaign for the PSM ruling, given the considerable and rising health care costs to the community from tobacco-related diseases.”

According to the UNODC Country Report for Pakistan (2012-13), Pakistan has at least 20 million adult smokers. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey Report (WHO) found that adult average smokers smoked 4,500 cigarettes per year, with the total number of sticks consumed being 90 billion. Although smokers in Pakistan are aware that smoking causes harm, too few are currently translating this into an intention to quit. Graphic campaigns like ‘Sponge’ transmitted as part of the PSM Ruling, will show the specific harms of tobacco use, thereby encouraging smoking cessation and deterring youth from initiating tobacco use.