A panel discussion was held un...

A panel discussion was held under the theme “Let’s expose addictive strategies for nicotine and tobacco!”

7/9/2018 A.M.

Although the activities carried out to reduce tobacco addiction have brought about a noticeable change, the Authority has now held a consultation with various stakeholders to expose the misleading and various marketing strategies used by the tobacco industry to retain existing smokers and attract new ones.

Various stakeholders, including a representative of the World Health Organization, senior government officials, and civil society organizations, participated in the consultation.

The consultation highlighted that many changes have been made to reduce tobacco use through multi-faceted control, awareness, law enforcement, and increased stakeholder participation, and that the hidden and deceptive strategies used by the tobacco industry to become more effective and reduce the number of smokers are a challenge.

It was noted that among the strategies used by the industry to become profitable, it was noted that the promotion of e-cigarettes to get young people addicted, the use of addictive sweet flavors, the expansion of modern marketing, and the dissemination of hidden advertising on social media are increasing the use of tobacco by young people.

In the consultation, it was suggested that in order to reduce tobacco use and make it completely free, the misleading strategies used by the industry should be followed, and negative strategies should be developed, and social media should be focused on raising awareness among young people who are widely exposed to the problem.

In addition, a consensus was reached on the recommendations to implement the proclamation issued to completely address the problem nationwide in all regional cities, to stop the illegal movement of prohibited products into the country through various options, to continue efforts to raise public awareness, and to work together with various stakeholders to understand and expose hidden advertising strategies.