In Karachi, a youth development organization has turned the lens of tobacco prevention inward — toward the home. Rather than relying solely on regulation or retail enforcement, EYDS launched its Youth Access Prevention Initiative with a quiet but consequential argument: that parents and caregivers, through awareness and open conversation, may be among the most powerful forces standing between a young person and their first encounter with tobacco or nicotine. It is a reminder that public health is not only a matter of policy, but of presence.
EYDS launches youth tobacco prevention initiative focused on family awareness
Prevention begins with what happens at the dinner table.
Mark
So EYDS is essentially saying that parents are the first line of defense against youth tobacco use. Is that the argument?
Mimi
It's more nuanced than that. They're saying parents have a role that's often overlooked—not because they're the only solution, but because they're positioned to notice things and have conversations that schools or government can't.
Luke
But how much of this is actually evidence-based? Do we know that parental awareness actually prevents youth tobacco access, or is this more of a logical assumption?
Mimi
That's a fair question. The briefing didn't present specific data on outcomes. It was more about laying out the framework and inviting media to think differently about how they cover the issue.
Mark
The media responsibility angle is interesting. Ayesha Zuberi said irresponsible reporting can actually make things worse. Can you give me an example of what that looks like?
Mimi
Sensational coverage that treats youth tobacco use as a moral failing—something shameful—might make parents less likely to have open conversations with their kids about it. Fear and blame can shut down dialogue instead of opening it.
Luke
But there's a tension there, right? If media is supposed to raise awareness without creating fear, how do you actually communicate urgency? Isn't some level of concern necessary to motivate change?
Mimi
That's the balance EYDS is asking media to strike. Urgency without panic. Awareness without stigma. It's harder to do than it sounds.
Mark
What about the peer and neighborhood influences they mentioned? How does a parent even monitor that?
Mimi
By staying present and curious. Knowing who their kids spend time with, what spaces they move through, and creating an environment where a young person feels comfortable talking about what they're seeing and experiencing.
Luke
That assumes a level of parental capacity and time that not all families have. Did the briefing address economic or structural barriers to this kind of involvement?
Mimi
Not explicitly. The focus was on the framework and the role of responsible communication. Those are important gaps to keep in mind, though.
The Pulse
- Thousands of Pakistani youth remain vulnerable to tobacco and nicotine exposure through pathways that laws and school programs alone cannot reach.
- EYDS is challenging the assumption that prevention belongs primarily to governments and institutions — placing caregivers at the center of the response.
- The initiative warns that sensational media coverage can backfire, making families less willing to seek help or speak honestly with their children.
- YAP calls on parents to look beyond the household — monitoring peer circles, neighborhood norms, and the subtle signals that something may have shifted in a young person's world.
- The campaign is building toward a multi-sector model where families, schools, and community leaders form an interconnected web of protection around youth.
In Karachi, a youth development organization has turned the lens of tobacco prevention inward — toward the home. Rather than relying solely on regulation or retail enforcement, EYDS launched its Youth Access Prevention Initiative with a quiet but consequential argument: that parents and caregivers, through awareness and open conversation, may be among the most powerful forces standing between a young person and their first encounter with tobacco or nicotine. It is a reminder that public health is not only a matter of policy, but of presence.
In Karachi this week, the Entrepreneurship and Youth Development Society brought journalists together to examine a question that rarely surfaces in public health debates: what role do families play in whether a young person ever picks up a cigarette or vaping device? Under its newly launched Youth Access Prevention Initiative — YAP — EYDS framed the answer around a single word: home.
Shaista Ayesha, Vice President of EYDS, argued that parents and caregivers hold a particular kind of power — not through surveillance or punishment, but through awareness and honest conversation. Prevention, she said, begins with understanding the environments surrounding young people: their peers, their neighborhoods, the quiet moments when something seems to have shifted. When concerns arise, the response should be dialogue, not accusation.
Programme Manager Ayesha Zuberi added a dimension often overlooked: the role of media itself. Responsible journalism, she noted, can reinforce prevention-minded thinking, while sensational coverage — framing youth tobacco use as moral failure rather than public health challenge — risks pushing families away from the very conversations that matter most.
EYDS was careful to position the home as a starting point, not the whole story. Schools, community leaders, and neighborhood gatekeepers are all part of the broader web YAP is weaving. What the Karachi briefing ultimately proposed was a reframing of youth tobacco prevention in Pakistan — less about prohibition alone, and more about keeping parents informed, present, and willing to speak openly about the world their children move through every day.
In Karachi this week, an organization focused on youth development convened journalists to discuss a problem that rarely makes headlines but shapes thousands of young lives: how tobacco and nicotine find their way into the hands of children. The Entrepreneurship and Youth Development Society, known as EYDS, launched what it calls the Youth Access Prevention Initiative—YAP for short—and framed the conversation around a single word: home.
The premise is straightforward but often overlooked. While public health campaigns typically target regulation, retail enforcement, or the dangers of smoking itself, EYDS is asking a different question: what role do parents and caregivers play in whether a young person ever picks up a cigarette or vaping device in the first place? The media briefing, held under the banner "Youth at Home," brought together reporters to explore how family environments can either shield young people from tobacco exposure or leave them vulnerable to it.
Shaista Ayesha, Vice President of EYDS, framed youth access prevention as a shared responsibility that cannot fall to government or schools alone. Parents and caregivers, she argued, hold particular power—not through surveillance or punishment, but through awareness and conversation. The work begins with understanding the environments surrounding young people: who they spend time with, what neighborhoods they move through, which peers might introduce them to tobacco or nicotine products. When concerns arise, Ayesha said, the response should be constructive dialogue rather than accusation or shame.
The initiative recognizes that influence comes from multiple directions. Peer pressure is real. Neighborhood norms matter. But so does what happens at the dinner table, in the car, during quiet moments when a parent notices something has shifted. The gap between knowing a young person and truly understanding their daily world is where prevention either takes root or fails.
Ayesha Zuberi, the Programme Manager for YAP, introduced a second layer to the discussion: how media itself shapes the conversation. The way journalists report on youth and tobacco, she noted, carries weight. Responsible coverage can build public awareness and encourage prevention-focused thinking without resorting to fear, blame, or stigma directed at young people or their families. Sensational reporting—the kind that treats youth tobacco use as a moral failing rather than a public health challenge—can actually undermine prevention efforts by making families less likely to seek help or have honest conversations.
The Karachi media meet was focused specifically on the home and family environment, but EYDS positioned it as one piece of a larger puzzle. Educational institutions matter. Community leaders and gatekeepers matter. The prevention approach YAP is building treats these areas as interconnected—a web of influence and protection that surrounds young people. The home is where it begins, but it does not end there.
What emerges from the briefing is a shift in how youth tobacco prevention might be understood in Pakistan: not as a problem to be solved through prohibition alone, but as a challenge requiring parents to stay informed, remain present, and speak openly with the young people in their lives about the world around them.
Notable Quotes
Youth access prevention is a shared responsibility. Parents and caregivers can play an important role by staying informed, remaining aware of the environments around young people, and opening constructive conversations when concerns around potential exposure arise.— Shaista Ayesha, Vice President, EYDS
How we communicate about youth access matters. Responsible reporting can help build awareness and encourage informed public conversations without creating fear, blame or stigma around young people and their families.— Ayesha Zuberi, Programme Manager, YAP
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