Daily Times

The renewed commitment to impose health tax on tobacco and fizzy drinks by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination (NHSRC) is a welcome move, but still there is a slip between the cup and the lip because previously such moves were shot down in parliament, says a press release issued by TheNetwork for Consumer Protection on the eve of World No Tobacco Day.

According to the organisation, this year’s theme of “tobacco and lung health” once again reminded the government that it had to fully implement Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and NCDs health tax was just a step in the right direction.

“No other person in Pakistan other than the health minister, Dr Zafar Mirza, a WHO man who is well groomed in consumer rights, know that FCTC and WHO’s (World Health Organization) MPOWER strategy has to be implemented not in piecemeal but in toto.”

The World No Tobacco Day calls that countries like Pakistan should respond to the tobacco epidemic through full implementation of the WHO FCTC and by adopting the MPOWER measures at the highest level of achievement, which involves developing, implementing, and enforcing the most effective tobacco control policies aimed at reducing the demand for tobacco.

TheNetwork for Consumer Protection says multi-sectoral tobacco control strategy is a way forward to beat health issues

MPOWER stands for Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies; Protect people from tobacco smoke; Offer help to quit tobacco use; Warn about the dangers of tobacco; Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and Raise taxes on tobacco.

Interestingly, tobacco cessation is an exclusive domain of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination where not much work has been done, the organisation said.

It said the moot point of implementing FCTC was the development of a multi-sectoral tobacco control policy that should have ownership of all the relevant ministries, provinces and the regions.

“Such a policy, which is required under FCTC, will enable the tobacco control cell in the NHRSC to go for tobacco control with all the ministries backing it and TCC countering tobacco industry influence as well,” said Nadeem Iqbal, CEO, TheNetwork for Consumer Protection.

“This will also help remove the prevailing post-devolution fog about the roles of federation and provinces in implementing the tobacco control laws,” Nadeem added.

The main federal ministries in developing multi-sectoral strategy are: Federal Commerce Ministry, which is regulating tobacco from farm to market, and the Ministry for Food Security, responsible for food security, in order to address FCTC Article 17, which calls for the provision of support for economically viable alternatives for tobacco growers.

Role of the Ministry of Climate Change is crucial to ensure implementation of Article 18 of the FCTC, which emphasises on “Protection of the environment and the health of persons”. Agencies