Daily Times

Tobacco consumption across the world is increasing at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, Pakistan is equally plagued by the curse, as it is among the top 15 countries in the world with widespread tobacco consumption and higher rates of tobacco-related health issues.

According to 2019 estimates, 19.1 percent of the population, which includes 31.8 percent of men and 5.8 percent of women, consume tobacco in one form or another. Among these tobacco consumers, 9.6 percent of the overall adult population (17.9 percent men, 1 percent women) are daily cigarette smokers. Whereas, 2.7 percent of the adult population (4.4 percent men, 1 percent women) smoke water pipes daily. Furthermore, 7.1 percent adults (10.5 percent men and 3.5 percent of women) use smokeless tobacco daily. Among the young population, 10.7 percent of all youth – including 6.6 percent girls and 13.3 percent boys – consume tobacco or tobacco products.

The tobacco industry is aggressively targeting youth, especially girls, via tobacco advertisement, product display, and sales. A recent study conducted by HDF, PANAH, FFC and SPARC with the name of ‘Big Tobacco, Tiny Targets’ reveals how tobacco advertisement, product display and sales around primary and secondary schools by the tobacco industry has carefully chosen the youth, specifically girls as the target audience for their new tobacco campaign.

According to another survey, which had samples from high school and college volunteer students, over 70 per cent of the students and other young adults fell into the light and intermittent smoking category, and remained at a greater risk for becoming chronic addicts of narcotics or tobacco dependence. Over 60 percent of Pakistanis are under 30, who are under direct threat of smoking as cigarettes are handy and cheap enough for them to have. Every day 1,200 Pakistani children are taking up smoking, according to a research.

Besides health and social implications of tobacco use, Pakistan also continues to lose billions of revenue every year due to illicit tobacco trade, high-handedness of multinational companies and loopholes in the system. As federal budget for 2020-2021 is just weeks away, the Pakistan Cigarette Manufacturers Association has submitted a plan to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to generate up to Rs 260 billion revenue without increasing the consumption and rescue the struggling local industry. According to the association, the seven-year plan, based on a detailed study, will not only help steady increase in revenue, it will also provide a breathing space for the local tobacco companies whose competitiveness is eroding due to high-handedness of international brands, which may not survive if changes are not made in the existing system. On elimination of illicit trade from tobacco market, the proposal suggests FBR to produce and validate an accurate register of domestic manufacturing locations, strict enforcement of license criteria to operate machinery, require the machinery owners/operators to accurately report monthly quantities produced of each brand as well as the quantities sold ex-factor to distribution entities.

For Pakistan, it is urgently necessary to tackle the black-market sale of cigarettes for three reasons: firstly, smoking is injurious to health and strikes a huge dent to the health budget; secondly, making sure the tax increase fully reaches state coffers; and thirdly, being a signatory to the WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) as well as to its Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (ITP), Pakistan requires to implement the Tracking and Tracing (T&T) system that will allow authorities to mark cigarette packs and rolling tobacco with secure, unique ID so that they can be traced from their point of manufacture all the way through the supply chain to the point where all taxes have been paid.

As cigarette makers have sprung into action to get relaxations in the upcoming budget which is around the corner, it has now become vital for the organisations associated with health, academia, education, youth development and human rights wings to join hands to lobby against the horrendous marketing strategy of the tobacco industry which is ostentatiously targeting the youth of the country to have new customers for their poisonous product. As world marks ‘No Tobacco Day’ today, there is a need for community mobilization against this health hazard but due to shortage of funds, mega initiatives are harder to take up in this regard. Enhancing cigarette prices will be helpful in curbing this menace in two ways. First, it will make cigarettes too costly for youth to afford it with their pocket money. Second, the funds that are generated this way will be used on crating awareness against tobacco.