Debate rages on proposed regularisation of HTPs

Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: After the health ministry made a bid to legalise heated tobacco products (HTPs) through a statuary regulatory order (SRO), opinions have emerged in favour and against these tobacco products which are apparently “less harmful” than conventional cigarettes.
The anti-tobacco activists have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reject the regularisation of HTPs which is part of the federal cabinet’s agenda.
However, a think tank has claimed that Pakistan should move for the legalisation of HTPs because they were “less hazardous as compared to conventional cigarettes”. But these products are widely opposed by local NGOs and health activists.
The Society for Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) urged all stakeholders to play their role in protecting the youth from “harmful innovative tobacco products”.
Sparc Programme Manager Khalil Ahmed Dogar said nearly 1,200 children start smoking every day in Pakistan due to easy access to tobacco products. “We can’t afford any more [children] getting addicted to these new products. It is a golden opportunity for our policymakers to give a message to our young generation that they will be protected from all harm,” he said.
Dr Ziauddin Islam, country lead for health NGO Vital Strategies, said that the researches claiming HTPs were less harmful than cigarettes were “funded by the tobacco industry”.
“The independent research has warned about their harmful effects,” he said.
Panah General Secretary Sanaullah Ghumman claimed that his organisation was “exposing [tobacco] industry’s tactics and will continue to play its role to save youth”.