World No Tobacco Day

Indus Yaqeen is a platform launched by Indus Hospital & Health Network for the youth to unleash their energies and power to shape our society. Recently Indus Yaqeen, in partnership with the Voices Against Tobacco (VAT) team, incorporated VAT as a project for the youth to take up and play their part in reducing tobacco usage in Pakistan. Voices Against Tobacco is an initiative to empower Pakistan’s youth to take ownership of their health and future through awareness of tobacco control and positive policy change.

To commemorate World No Tobacco Day, the VAT team collaborated with Indus Yaqeen and conducted ten sessions about tobacco hazards and control for KASB Institute of Technology students. These were in-depth sessions explaining the alarming situation of tobacco use in our country. Tobacco products are not only destroying our health but also our environment and economy.

The students also played their part by signing the petition to increase the tax on tobacco by 30%, reducing the number of smokers, saving the lives of 348,000 future smokers, and increasing the tax revenue by PKR 19 billion. This will help bring Pakistan closer to achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This petition will be forwarded to the policymakers to make a noise that Pakistan’s youth do not want tobacco to be easily accessible to anyone.

On May 31, 2022, around 600 KASB Institute of Technology students participated in a poster competition arranged by the VAT team to raise awareness about the harmful effects of consuming tobacco. The students showed an overwhelming response to the poster competition, came forward with their creativity, and made exciting and effective posters. They volunteered to engage in effective dialogue and serve as upstanding and compassionate individuals for the betterment of society.