July 2025 Newsletter

The July 2025 issue focuses on community action for a smoke-free Pakistan. The lead story reports that ARI and its partner organizations held awareness sessions on ending smoking in 11 districts, including seven in Punjab and four in Sindh. These included six community meetings and five sessions with tobacco users.

The sessions brought together community leaders, civil society members, labourers, doctors, mothers, smokers, students, and people from different backgrounds. Speakers discussed the health risks of tobacco products, the benefits of quitting, and the role communities can play in preventing youth smoking and helping adults quit.

The newsletter explains that burning tobacco produces harmful chemicals that can cause serious diseases, including heart problems, severe cough, chronic lung disease, loss of appetite, and different types of cancer. It also states that smoking kills around 160,000 people in Pakistan every year and creates an economic cost of Rs615 billion, equal to 1.6 percent of the country’s GDP.

The issue also highlights that tobacco control laws exist in Pakistan, but their implementation and the provision of effective cessation services remain weak. Because of this, fewer than 3 percent of smokers successfully quit each year. Speakers shared methods to manage nicotine withdrawal and discussed cessation strategies such as counselling, medication, nicotine replacement therapy, and tobacco harm reduction.

The newsletter also includes personal stories of smokers. Rehmat Ullah, 69, has smoked for more than five decades and wants help to quit. Tariq Bhatti regretted starting smoking and said awareness programs and support from friends and loved ones could help him quit. Shamoon Gill wants to quit because of shortness of breath and believes exercise and support may help him. Farzana Agha, a diabetic patient, also wants proper help to quit smoking for good.

Another important article discusses Pakistan’s struggle to regulate alternative tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. It says Pakistan has not yet developed a clear legal framework for these products, even though their sale and use have increased. The article calls for sensible regulation based on relative risk, age restrictions, quality control, proper labelling, import monitoring, and public education.

The final section discusses a study showing that people who switch from cigarettes to vapes or heated tobacco products may improve their fitness within weeks. It also reports ARI’s call to integrate tobacco harm reduction and affordable cessation services into Pakistan’s national tobacco control strategy to help adult smokers move away from combustible cigarettes.

• The main story highlights ARI awareness sessions in 11 districts of Punjab and Sindh.
• The sessions involved communities, tobacco users, smokers, students, doctors, mothers, and civil society members.
• Speakers discussed tobacco harms, benefits of quitting, nicotine withdrawal, and cessation strategies.
• Smoking kills around 160,000 people every year in Pakistan and creates an economic cost of Rs615 billion.
• Fewer than 3 percent of smokers in Pakistan successfully quit each year because cessation support remains weak.
• Personal stories show that stress, social pressure, lack of guidance, and lack of medical support make quitting difficult.
• Pakistan still lacks a clear legal framework for alternative tobacco products such as vapes and nicotine pouches.
• The newsletter calls for sensible regulation based on age limits, product quality, labelling, import monitoring, and public education.
• A study suggests switching from cigarettes to vapes or heated tobacco products may improve fitness levels.
• ARI calls for tobacco harm reduction and affordable cessation services to be included in national tobacco control policy.

The main story highlights ARI and its partner organizations holding awareness sessions in 11 districts of Punjab and Sindh. The sessions brought together community leaders, doctors, mothers, students, smokers, civil society members, and tobacco users to discuss youth protection, quitting support, tobacco harm reduction, and the need for effective cessation services in Pakistan.