{"id":6478,"date":"2025-05-15T13:48:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T13:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/?p=6478"},"modified":"2025-05-15T13:48:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T13:48:06","slug":"youth-advocates-urge-government-to-raise-tobacco-taxes-to-reduce-consumption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/2025\/05\/15\/youth-advocates-urge-government-to-raise-tobacco-taxes-to-reduce-consumption\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Advocates Urge Government to Raise Tobacco Taxes to Reduce Consumption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Islamabad (Syed Javed Hassan Shah): The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) organized a youth-led initiative titled \u201cYouth Against Tobacco \u2013 Our Future, Our Fight\u201d on Thursday, May 15, 2025, at the National Press Club, Islamabad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative brought together young voices from the Youth Advocates Against Tobacco (YAAT) Club, who led a powerful campaign against tobacco use. During the press conference, youth representatives directly engaged with the media, highlighting critical facts: over 160,000 people in Pakistan die annually from tobacco-related illnesses, more than 1,200 children start smoking each day, and tobacco use places an overwhelming economic burden of Rs 615 billion on the national healthcare system\u2014a cost that significantly outweighs tobacco tax revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the press conference, Ahsan Amin, a youth advocate shared a powerful message on the broader implications of tobacco use: \u201cTobacco consumption is the biggest threat to Pakistani youth. It is not only harming our health but also stealing our future by increasing disease, addiction, and poverty. We need immediate action to protect the next generation.\u201d
Shafia Asad, another YAAT member, emphasized the need for stronger fiscal policies to control tobacco use. He stated, \u201cRaising taxes on tobacco products is one of the most effective ways to reduce consumption. Higher prices make tobacco less affordable, especially for youth, and discourage initiation.\u201d He further urged the government to implement significant tax increases in the upcoming fiscal year and use the revenue to fund health and education programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mohammad Hadi, delivered a powerful speech exposing the manipulative tactics used by the tobacco industry: \u201cThe tobacco industry is targeting youth with attractive packaging, flavored products, and misleading marketing. These tactics are designed to hook a new generation of users. We must raise awareness and push back against these deceptive strategies before more lives are lost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahya Shamshad highlighted the broader societal and economic benefits of investing in youth empowerment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmpowering young people with knowledge and leadership opportunities is key to building a healthier generation and a thriving economy. When youth take ownership of public health issues like tobacco control, it creates lasting change not only in behavior, but in national development.\u201d
As a symbolic and motivational act, youth advocates took an oath to stand united in the fight against tobacco and nicotine products. By taking the \u201cPledge Against Tobacco & Nicotine Products,\u201d these young leaders reaffirmed their commitment to promoting a smoke-free future and encouraging their peers to make healthier, informed choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the press conference, youth representatives joined civil society leaders in an Awareness Walk, holding banners and placards with powerful messages like \u201cSay No to Tobacco,\u201d \u201cProtect Our Future,\u201d Save health, Save economy and \u201cTobacco Kills \u2013 Act Now!\u201d The walk aimed to visually amplify the campaign\u2019s message and draw public and media attention to the critical need for tobacco control\u00a0in\u00a0Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Islamabad (Syed Javed Hassan Shah): The Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) organized a youth-led initiative titled \u201cYouth Against Tobacco \u2013 Our Future, Our Fight\u201d on Thursday, May 15, 2025, at the National Press Club, Islamabad. The initiative brought together young voices from the Youth Advocates Against Tobacco (YAAT) Club,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,36,31],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"category-health","9":"category-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6478"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6486,"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6478\/revisions\/6486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalnewspk.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}