Islamabad: Rising tobacco and nicotine use among Pakistan’s youth, especially around educational institutions, emerged as the central concern at a national review session on tobacco control held by the Aurat Foundation in Islamabad.
Participants from Parliament, government departments, health organizations, and civil society warned that easy availability of cigarettes, vapes, nicotine pouches, and flavored tobacco near schools is creating a growing public health threat. The discussion also pointed to a noticeable increase in tobacco use among women, indicating a shifting trend.
The session called for stronger legislation, faster policy action, and strict enforcement to counter the rapid spread of emerging nicotine products. Speakers emphasized that existing laws remain poorly implemented due to procedural delays, weak monitoring, and limited coordination between federal and provincial bodies.
The need for clear parental awareness, community engagement, and better recognition of new nicotine products was highlighted as an essential part of early prevention. Officials noted that families and schools often remain unaware of modern products marketed to young people.
Technical briefings identified major enforcement gaps and policy loopholes that allow the tobacco industry to expand its reach. Participants noted that companies are increasingly using social media trends, entertainment content, and youth-focused marketing to promote vaping in urban areas.
Government representatives reaffirmed ongoing federal efforts to implement the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002 and to tighten regulations where required. Provincial representatives also announced plans to introduce new resolutions to strengthen tobacco control.
Education sector officials raised alarms over the rise of nicotine products around private institutions and called for tougher regulatory checks. Regulatory authorities stressed the need for a broader social movement to counter tobacco use nationwide.
Closing the event, the Aurat Foundation reiterated its commitment to evidence-based advocacy, cross-sector collaboration, and long-term public awareness initiatives aimed at building a healthier, tobacco-free society.SRINAGAR: The state of education is deteriorating in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at every passing day as governments seems least bothered to pay any attention towards this important sector.
The sane people in J&K have raised questions over the current situation saying that more than 32,000 school students are being taught by single teachers in 1371 educational institutions, that is a big question mark on the quality of education and lack of availability of staff.
The official figures revealed by people in the concerned departments of J&K at least 1371 schools wherein single teachers have been posted or deployed.
While, in contrdiction to it, the government as well as the management of private schools claim that they have a sufficient availability of human resources and infrastructure but the official figures reveal a different story.
The figures reveal that there is an enrolment of 32,303 students enrolled in those schools where only single teachers are posted or deployed.
Pertinently, in previous report, the official figures have revealed that in J&K more than 31,054 students were enrolled in those schools that were functioning with a single teacher.
In the previous report, there were only 1330 schools that were functioning with only a single teacher. However, the recent report suggests that the numbers have increased by at least 41 schools.
In 2024, KNO first broke the news of closure of over 4400 government run schools owing to ‘zero or extremely low’ enrolment of students.
In July-2024, the news agency reported that there were a total of 23,117 government run schools in Jammu and Kashmir out of which 4394 have been deleted from the UDISE data.
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