Marketing gimmicks of tobacco industry lure youth to pick up tobacco products like shisha, cigarettes, gutka.
ISLAMABAD: The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently published an international study on “International Reach of Tobacco Marketing Among Young Children” in different countries of the world, including Pakistan. The findings were alarming. In Pakistan, 84 per cent of children are able to identify at least one cigarette brand. This is closely associated with the rising trend of tobacco use and open marketing of tobacco products. Pakistan tops the list of countries where the incidence of lung and oral cancer is high due to growing tobacco use. According to the World Health Organisation, there are over 100,000 deaths every year in the country due to tobacco-related diseases. Daily, over 1,200 children start smoking and get hooked for life.
Attractive marketing gimmicks of the tobacco industry lure the youth to pick up tobacco products like shisha, cigarettes and gutka. Though tobacco companies claim that they do not market to youth, but the abovementioned study provides fresh evidence of the effective reach of tobacco marketing. It is high time Pakistan took measures to protect its youth and enforced a ban on all forms of tobacco advertising and promotion to reduce tobacco use.
Aasma Qamer
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2014.
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