Islamabad: Experts at a stakeholder seminar on Sunday highlighted that the tobacco industry, disguised as corporate giants, is employing manipulative tactics to influence public opinion and hinder progress in public health.

The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) hosted a high-level seminar, “Unveiling the Smoke Screen: Tobacco Industry Interference and Monitoring in Pakistan,” bringing together local and global experts to examine how the tobacco industry propagates misleading narratives about emerging tobacco products.

Syed Ali Wasif Naqvi, Senior Research Associate at SDPI, in his opening remarks, emphasized that the tobacco industry has long been a formidable barrier to global public health progress. “In Pakistan, the fight against tobacco’s harmful influence has grown more complex, with corporate giants employing tactics to manipulate public opinion, influence policies, and obscure their detrimental impact,” he added.

A presentation by Dr. Waseem Iftikhar Janjua, Consultant at the Health Centre, SDPI, shed light on these underhanded efforts and stressed the need for enhanced vigilance and transparency in........

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