Islamabad – Society for Protection of Rights of the Child (SPARC) shared a press release to urge the government to impose of Health Levy on tobacco products to sustain tobacco control efforts in Pakistan.
Malik Imran, Country head, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, said that in June 2019, the federal cabinet decided to implement a healthy levy on tobacco products. This decision was made to put a barrier against tobacco industry which has caused severe damage to public health and economy in Pakistan. However, some key policymakers kept blocking this move because of their strong working relationship with tobacco industry.
He mentioned that the use of tobacco causes annual an economic burden of 615 billion, which is 1.6% of Pakistan’s GDP. On the other hand, the revenue generated from the tobacco industry is 120 billion. This imbalance can only be covered by imposing additional health tax on these products otherwise; our struggling health infrastructure won’t be able to bear the burden.
Khalil Ahmed Dogar, Program Manager, SPARC, mentioned that children and low-income people are primary target of tobacco industry. Despite the claims of tobacco industry, its products are the leading cause of deaths due to cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular disease. He shared alarming stat that 1200 children beginning smoking daily and 170,000 people die due to tobacco induced diseases every year. He mentioned that it is important to impose healthy levy immediately otherwise the number of smokers in Pakistan will go beyond our control.
He further stated that Pakistan’s health infrastructure has suffered unprecedented loss in last 3 years due to pandemic and natural disasters. Since tobacco products are causing us financial loss, the industry should be the one to pay for the imbalance it has created. This is a widely recognized fact because the World Health Organization has repeatedly recommended Pakistan to increase prices of cigarette to at least Rupees 30 per packet to reduce consumption and health costs. Government must capitalize on this sustainable solution to save precious lives.
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