That a nation’s future lies with its children is a cliché. When a child starts smoking, however, few people react with the kind of alarm and concern that should be expected from a realization that this was one of the first signs that the nation’s future was going to end up in smoke. A report by the Protection of the Rights of the Child, citing the 2015 Global Adult Tobacco Survey, has revealed some frightening statistics. It says every day 1,000 to 1,200 children aged six to 15 begin smoking in Pakistan. The number of passive smokers around them has not beeen estimated. While no Pakistan-specific data is available on underage passive smoking, worldwide 40 per cent of children up to the age of 14 are known to be exposed. Cigarettes cause 600,000 deaths globally. Pakistanis spend Rs250 billion on cigarettes. Smoking then leaves a burden on the Pakistani healthcare which consumes Rs 143 billion annually. The staggering healthcare expenses fail to save 160,000 lives. Most of the deaths are from diseases caused directly by tobacco use. Precious lives can be saved and the expenditure brought down if curbs on tobacco are taken seriously.
Parents, government authorities and civil society need to see to it that children are not drawn to smoking. Of course, cigarette manufacturers see children as long-term users who guarantee profits for them for a long period of time. They attract children by taking attractive ads displayed inside shops and on streets. Tobacco graffiti has been banned in Pakistan but we still see paper posters at kiosks and shops. Recently, the district government of Lodhran removed such graffiti and fined a shopkeeper. Posters, however, keep on mocking government’s anti-tobacco policy. The government must be praised for taking several measures to keep children away from tobacco. For instance, it has banned sale of cigarette to people under 18 years of age. It has also banned cigarettes around schools besides curbing the sale of loose cigarettes. Smoking at public places is an offence. Had these measures been enforced strictly, there would have been considerable reduction in tobacco use. The government authorities need to take these laws more seriously.
Apart from these laws, there is a tobacco industry. A good number of people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cultivate tobacco and the government has a department for tobacco promotion. This represents a glaring dichotomy. Pakistan is one of the 15 countries where tobacco-related health issues are a big problem. Given Pakistan’s youth bulge, the government needs to come up with an elaborate plan to discourage tobacco use among children through stricter enforcement of laws and by discouraging tobacco cultivation. *