Major tobacco producing companies (British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, JTI and Gallaher) and some of the producers of tipping paper (Tann UK, Tannpapier, Benkert and Deutsche Benkert) appealed to the Court of Appeal against the order of Green J dismissing their applications for judicial review of the lawfulness of the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 (“Regulations”). The appeals were heard over a period of four days in October and judgment was handed down on 30 November 2016.

The Tobacco Control Cell, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, in collaboration with Vital Strategies has launched the second anti-tobacco mass media campaign in Pakistan. A 30 second Public Service Message called “Sponge” has been designed to turn tobacco users’ thoughts about quitting into active quit attempts by showing the real health harms of smoking. The “Sponge” video graphically shows the amount of tar found, after only one year, in the lungs of an average pack a day smoker.