World Health Organization (WHO) awarded World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2026 Award to Tobacco Control Cell of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in recognition of its significant contributions to tobacco control and public health. Award is presented annually.
World Health Organization awards Pakistan’s Tobacco Control Cell for public health excellence
SDPI researcher Dr Waseem Iftikhar Janjua also receives global recognition
Awards presented under World No Tobacco Day 2026 global framework
Tobacco linked to 164,000 deaths annually and massive economic losses in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organization (WHO) has awarded the World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2026 Award to the Tobacco Control Cell of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination in recognition of its significant contributions to tobacco control and public health.
Dr Waseem Iftikhar Janjua, Senior Researcher at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Pakistan, has also been honoured with the WHO World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) 2026 Award for his outstanding efforts in advancing tobacco control and public health initiatives.
The WNTD Award is presented annually to individuals or organisations from each of the six WHO regions in recognition of their outstanding contributions to tobacco control.
In Pakistan, tobacco is estimated to cause around 164,000 deaths annually, along with economic losses exceeding PKR 1,800 billion (approximately US$6.6 billion) every year.
The WHO has warned that children and youth are particularly exposed to and targeted by tobacco and nicotine industries, which design products to trap young people in cycles of addiction.
Pakistan ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2004, while WHO continues to provide technical support to the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and the Federal Board of Revenue in areas including tobacco tax policy and track-and-trace implementation since 2014.
Under the framework of the WHO FCTC, Pakistan has introduced key policy measures to reduce tobacco consumption, including a 208% increase in tobacco taxation during the fiscal year 2022–23 (which has remained unchanged in subsequent years), larger pictorial health warnings on tobacco packaging, a nationwide ban on the sale of loose cigarettes, the National Tobacco Control Strategy 2022–2030, and the establishment of provincial Tobacco Control Cells and Implementation and Monitoring Committees, among others.
Extensive scientific evidence shows that all tobacco and nicotine products available on the market—including licit and illicit products, as well as e-cigarettes and nicotine patches—are highly harmful to health and pose serious risks to vulnerable groups, particularly children and adolescents.
According to health experts worldwide, Tobacco use kills up to half of its users who do not quit and remains a leading cause of preventable death, contributing to cardiovascular and lung diseases, strokes, and multiple forms of cancer.
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