ISLAMABAD:The experts on Tuesday said multi-sector collaboration was required for sustainable tobacco control programme in Pakistan at a seminar on “Need for Sustainable Tobacco Control Policies in Pakistan”, organised by the Society for Protection of Rights of the Child (SPARC).
Director General Health Dr Shabana Saleem, as chief guest, said Pakistan was lucky to have a majority of population in youth who were an asset for the country. “However, this youth is battling against the epidemic of tobacco. About 1,200 children between the ages of 6 and 15 start smoking in Pakistan every year. We can’t let any industry deliberately target our youth to put their future in jeopardy. Pakistan’s tobacco control efforts can only become sustainable if all stakeholders i.e. government, political parties, civil society, academia and media put children’s future in front and take a joint stand against tobacco industry.”
She further stated that the tobacco control cell at the ministry was active and despite limited resources, the ministry was focusing on implementation of existing policies and introducing new policies with the support of parliamentarians, civil society, academia and media.
Alarming facts related to consequences of tobacco consumption in Pakistan were shared by Dr Ziauddin Islam, Vital Strategies Country Lead, former Technical Head/ Director of Tobacco Control Cell, Ministry of NHSR&C, and former Technical Focal Person of Govt. of Pakistan for WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). He mentioned that the number of smokers in Pakistan had reached up to 31 million. Tobacco consumption was causing serious health implications on Pakistanis and yearly, 170,000 people die due to tobacco consumption.
He added that Worth Health Organization had repeatedly recommended Pakistan to increase taxes on tobacco products to reduce consumption and recover the health costs. However such recommendations were never implemented because tobacco industry’s influence in policymaking ran deep. The biggest example was Health Levy Bill 2019 which had repeatedly been blocked by key policymakers because of their strong working relationship with tobacco industry.
SPARC Program Manager Khalil Ahmed Dogar said that Pakistan’s present as well as future depended on the survival, protection and promotion of rights, and development of its children. “Therefore, we should set our differences aside when it comes to children and show our full commitment for establishing a sustainable tobacco control program in Pakistan.”
He added that tobacco industry has hurt national exchequer on multiple fronts such as underreporting, false claims of illicit trade, uninformed price raises etc. “The huge imbalance caused by tobacco industry can only be covered through imposing additional health tax. This health tax must be separate from routine taxes, so that the additional amount can be utilized on sustaining tobacco control efforts.”