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.SYDNEY: Australian scientists have bent upon to make efforts to target the losses of frost to save wheat growers from the the dent they are receiving.
The scientists are leading efforts to protect grain growers from frost damage, costing the wheat industry over 360 million Australian dollars (about 235 million U.S. dollars) a year.
Field trials are being combined with laboratory and controlled-environment studies to develop genetic solutions to frost, according to a statement issued by Australia’s Charles Sturt University (CSU).
Crop scientists are studying novel wheat germplasm in fields and frost-simulation chambers to uncover genetic links to frost damage, which has risen by 30 percent in southern Australia since 2000, with climate models predicting both frequency and severity will intensify, it said.
“This presents a challenge to breeders to improve crop tolerance to stress and for industry to integrate new genetic potential into farming systems to continually adapt to climate change, thus increasing productivity,” said CSU Senior Lecturer in Crop Science Felicity Harris.
Plants time their growth and flowering to seasonal patterns in temperature, light and moisture, but frost can disrupt this, damaging tissues from cell to canopy and hindering development, researchers said.
The project, now in its second year of field validation, aims to equip plant breeders with knowledge to develop frost-tolerant varieties and tools to help growers reduce future frost damage, Harris said.
“In the long run, this will contribute to reducing risk associated with frost and improved crop productivity for Australian farmers,” she said.
The CSU heads the New South Wales arm of three national research projects funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and led by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia’s national science agency, with partners nationwide.
Read more: Water Harvesting Drive: Uzbekistan Leading CARs, Targets 15bn 3ms In Annual Savings By 2030
