The World No Tobacco Day was observed on May 31 all over the world as well as in Pakistan with a renewed pledge to purge society of this menace. Seminars and rallies were held in the country to protest the use of tobacco and highlight its negative health effects, which currently leads to nearly six million deaths each year worldwide, including 600,000 which are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Civil society has urged the government to go for plain packaging and sign the WHO Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. Like other world health bodies, the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination in Pakistan has taken some steps to discourage smoking but the government’s efforts lack commitment. An extension in the deadline to the tobacco industry to raise the size of pictorial warning up to 85 percent has been decried by anti-tobacco activists. The warning has already been twice delayed. Moreover, smoking continues unabated in public and work spaces and even in the parliament building where laws are passed against this scourge. The figures related to the negative effects of smoking, expenditure incurred on the purchase of cigarettes and deaths caused by this habit are very alarming. According to a recent State Bank of Pakistan report, Rs 250 billion were spent in the country on the sale of 64 billion cigarettes in fiscal year 2014-15. On the basis of current smoking patterns, approximately one billion people will be killed by the end of this century due to smoking. It is tragic to note that 29 per cent smokers in Pakistan start smoking before the age of 17 years.
Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco smoke that prompts smokers not to give up smoking. Addicted smokers need enough nicotine over a day to ‘feel normal’. Along with nicotine, smokers inhale about 7,000 other chemicals in cigarette smoke. Many of these chemicals come from burning tobacco leaf. Some of these compounds are chemically active and trigger profound and damaging changes in the body. Tobacco smoke contains over 60 known cancer-causing chemicals. Besides causing lung cancer and other fatal diseases, smoking harms nearly every organ in the body.
The government has so far failed to stop the trade of smuggling cigarettes into the country. A nationwide campaign is needed to discourage the increasing trend of smoking among the masses, especially the youth. Concrete steps should be taken to protect the new generation from the effects of smoking. Efforts and commitment against tobacco usage in public places and offices are required. The government needs to implement tough laws to discourage this ‘evil habit’ killing millions of people, including women, every year. The illicit trade of tobacco products is a major global concern, including health, legal and economic, governance and corruption issues. Unless we act, the epidemic will kill more and more people every year, so strict policies are needed to eliminate the deadly habit of smoking. *