Union's Pakistan Partners Review and Strategic Planning Meeting

December 12-13, 2022: Dr Saba Amjad CEO of Heartfile attended the Union's Pakistan Partners Review and Strategic Planning Meeting at Occidental Hotel, Dubai, UAE.

A diverse group of Government officials from the Pakistan Tobacco Control Cell and other UNION grantees gathered in Dubai for the meeting. The event provided a unique platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and fostering partnerships.

Over the course of two days, attendees showcased their projects and shared their experiences. This served as an opportunity to highlight the remarkable impact made by these organizations across Pakistan. The meeting focused on evaluating the ongoing work on tobacco control in Pakistan. Critical issues like the national tobacco control strategy, gap and enforcement challenges in existing legislation, tobacco industry Interference, tobacco tax, and other emerging issues, including novel products were discussed.
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The onslaught of Novel Tobacco

The ill effects of use of Tobacco and cigarettes on human health have long been known and very well understood. They are known to increase the risk of coronary heart diseases, lungs cancer and stroke by a factor of 2 to 4 times and in some cases as far as up to 25 times. The Tobacco Industry (TI) has been the subject of criticism from public health circles and has faced tax raises by Governments and other parallel measures to reduce the demand for Tobacco Products. While all this meant reduced revenues for Tobacco Companies, they were certainly not going to sit back and watch their current and prospective fortunes be eroded away by Tobacco Control efforts. It is worthwhile to note that the combined revenues of the world's six largest tobacco companies in 2016 were more than USD 346 Billion, 17% larger than the Gross National Income of Pakistan.
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