Provincial Alliance For Sustainable Tobacco Urges KP Govt To Address Emerging Threats Of E-cigarettes, Vapes

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 20th Dec, 2024) Blue Veins, in collaboration with the Provincial Alliance for Sustainable Tobacco and Nicotine Control (PASTC), calls on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to take immediate action to regulate the sale, storage, and marketing of newer nicotine and tobacco products, particularly e-cigarettes and vapes.

These products, marketed as safer alternatives to conventional cigarettes, pose significant public health risks and could impose a considerable health burden on countries like Pakistan, where healthcare resources are already stretched thin.

According to a press release issued here on Friday, the unchecked growth of e-cigarettes and vapes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has raised serious concerns due to their hazardous health effects, including addiction, lung diseases, and potential risks to cardiovascular health.

These products are often targeted at youth through manipulative marketing tactics by the tobacco industry, glamorizing vaping through social media influencers, flavors, and misleading narratives of harm reduction.

The tobacco industry’s strategy to position e-cigarettes as a less harmful alternative undermines global efforts to reduce tobacco-related harm and threatens to undo progress made in tobacco control.

In light of these challenges, Blue Veins and PASTC stress the urgent need to implement Article 5.3 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which calls for safeguarding public health policies from the influence of the tobacco industry.

We urge the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government to enact legislation to regulate the sale and storage of e-cigarettes and vapes, ensure stringent advertising restrictions, and create awareness campaigns to counter the industry’s misleading narratives.

Qamar Naseem, Program Manager at Blue Veins, emphasized the urgency of the issue and said the rising popularity of e-cigarettes and vapes among our youth is a public health emergency.

These products are not harm-free, as the industry claims, but are addictive and detrimental to health, Qamar claimed.

The government must act decisively to regulate these products, protect our youth, and uphold public health interests over industry profits. By implementing Article 5.3 of the FCTC, we can ensure that health policies are free from tobacco industry interference, he suggested.

Mufti Jameel, a renowned religious scholar from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and member of PASTC highlighted the moral and social implications.

He said promoting harmful products like e-cigarettes and vapes, especially among our youth, goes against the teachings of islam, which emphasize the preservation of health and well-being. It is our collective responsibility to shield society from such harmful influences and ensure a healthier future for our children. I urge the government to take swift and firm action to regulate these products and prevent their misuse.

The rapid proliferation of e-cigarettes and vapes in Pakistan demands a comprehensive legislative framework to regulate their marketing, sale, and usage.

Without swift action, these products could undermine national health priorities and impose a significant burden on the healthcare system.