Big Tobacco Tiny Targets: Innovative Tobacco Products Killing Our Children

News Desk

Islamabad: All points of sale are selling innovative tobacco products around points of interest for youth. These products, mainly nicotine pouches, are displayed at visible eye level for children and placed beside candies, sweets, and toys to appeal to children and youth. Vendors also utilise sales techniques such as discounted products, free samples, gifts, and competition entries to attract customers, as revealed by Big Tobacco’s Tiny Targets research.

‘Big Tobacco, Tiny Targets’ is a survey conducted by the Society for Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) in collaboration with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK) to examine the sale and advertising trends of innovative tobacco products in nine cities of Pakistan.

At the launch ceremony of the survey, health activists urged the government to impose a ban on innovative products such as nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes, and heated tobacco devices in order to save Pakistan’s future.

Parliamentary Secretary Dr Shazia Sobia Soomro mentioned that this research opens everyone’s eyes to how easily accessible and heavily marketed addictive nicotine products are to Pakistani children in and around their educational and recreational facilities.

With the aid of this research, we will be able to develop strategies to shield our kids from the dangers of tobacco, Dr Sobia further added.

National Health Services Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC) Special Assistant to Prime Minister Mahesh Kumar Malani stated that Pakistan’s children are its assets. This research is noteworthy because it examines the negative effects of advertising. This will assist us in reducing the negative effects of tobacco in the future.

The government is dedicated to the safety and welfare of Pakistani children, and it collaborates with all interested parties to prevent the implementation of any anti-child laws, Kumar Malani added.

SPARC Board of Directors Member Khalida Ahmed appreciated SPARC for conducting Tiny Targets. Almost 1200 children start smoking every day as a result of affordable and accessible tobacco in Pakistan, she said, adding that “we can’t afford for any more kids to become dependent on these new items. The advertisements can be outlawed by regularly examining and revising Pakistan’s tobacco control legislation as it applies to tobacco industry advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.”

Khalida suggested that municipal authorities licence tobacco vendors and specialty businesses that sell solely tobacco items. Children and others who do not use tobacco but do not usually visit such establishments will be exposed to fewer tobacco products as a result.

Senate Member Sana Jamali said that this study will aid the government in foreseeing the risks associated with novel tobacco products. The government must outlaw addictive nicotine products and tighten Pakistan’s tobacco control laws to prohibit all types of nicotine product advertising.

The tobacco industry has already misled the government by claiming that nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes are only for smokers who wish to stop and that they are less dangerous. However, these goods are publicly advertised online and offered for sale to young and unsuspecting customers.

SPARC Programme Manager Khalil Ahmed Dogar informed that the Tiny Targets survey was conducted in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Bahawalpur, and Hyderabad. The surveyors collected data from vendors operating within a 100-metre radius of schools, universities, hostels, playgrounds and parks, cinemas, shopping malls, indoor gaming and entertainment centres, and restaurants.