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Many years, the use of tobacco claims the lives of more than 160,000 Pakistanis. This tool is driven by more than 7,000 harmful chemicals in tobacco, which includes tar, ammonia, benzene, and various carcinjin that damage important organs and cause cancer, stroke and chronic respiratory diseases. Pakistan’s GDP costs at least 1.4 % every year to treat these prevention conditions, and turns valuable resources, which can otherwise be allocated in essential sectors such as education, health care and infrastructure. There is a family behind each figure that counteracts emotional and financial burden. Therefore, tobacco use is not only a health problem, but a deep social, economic and developmental challenge that demands immediate national action.
Nevertheless, the myths about tobacco are deep in Pakistani society. Hockey is often made romantic as a harmless social ritual, while nasal (a powder tobacco dip) is promoted as a treatment for headaches. In rural areas, it is common for women to smoke together in someone’s house. Here is a widespread misconception that the use of “light” – fever cigarettes, occasionally stunned or small amounts of snacks – is risk -free. In fact, even a small amount of tobacco yields important health results that should not be reduced.
The dependence of tobacco rarely begins as a comfortable choice. It is often driven by stress, economic hardship, peer pressure and tobacco addiction. It is equivalent to say “just leave” without a help offering someone like sending a compass ship to the sea. Many people have never heard of either nicotine patch, consulting hotlines and support groups or they are out of their purchase power. The culturally appropriate termination program that integrates behavior consultations, peer-backed networks and affordable nicotine-reflex therapies, which are accessible to every community from cities to remote villages, are urgently needed.
The culturally appropriate elimination program that integrates behavior consultations, peer-backed networks and affordable nicotine-reuplence treatment is urgently needed.
Health education education will only succeed when it has its roots in communities and are supplied through reliable local voices. Religious leaders, village elders and teachers can eliminate myths and eliminate dialogue in ways that hidden booklets could never. Youth -based workshops should be interactive, to resist the influence of young people and challenge cultural principles. It is imperative that normalize tobacco use.
Frontline Health Professionals, including Lady Health Workers, along with routine services, should have the ability to offer a screen for tobacco use and integrate patients to support patients. Civil society can mobilize volunteers to host the locality “tobacco” constituencies, and change the withdrawal of the collective movement alone.
Current tobacco laws, which require packaging graphic health warnings, have more potential than symptomatic measures due to the ban on smoking and taxation in public places. They can kill, and can. When tobacco taxes increased by 150 % in Pakistan in February 2023, cigarette consumption increased by 19.2 %, which shows that prices are discouraged. However, contradictory enforcement has reduced the effects of policy. Regular inspection of cafes and shops, transparent public reporting of violations and fines for criminals should be normal rather than exempt.
Pakistan’s tobacco epidemic is neither inevitable nor unacceptable. With determination, culturally proportional strategies and strong cooperation in the fields, we can revert to a trend that costs life, compromise our economy and stunt our future. Every Pakistani deserves the opportunity to breathe freely, work productively and develop its children in a nation that value life more than addiction.
The author is the Executive Director of the Modern Development Solution. It can be contacted at Zehra@idsisb.com
