ISLAMABAD: An international health advocacy group here on Tuesday warned that any delay in the implementation of the government decision to increase the size of the pictorial warning on cigarette packets would put a negative effect on the health of the citizens.

Speaking at a news conference at the National Press Club, Dr Tahir Turk, senior technical adviser to the World Lung Foundation, said in the developed countries people had started quitting smoking because of the strict control and steps taken by the respective governments.

As a result, the international tobacco industry was now doing 80 per cent of its business in the low and middle income countries.

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On February 11, the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) announced that the size of the pictorial warning on the cigarette packets would be increased from the current 40 per cent of the packets to 85 per cent.

The tobacco industry would be instructed to introduce the new packing from May 31. The condition would also be applicable on imported cigarettes.

After the decision, however, not only delegations from the tobacco industry started visiting ministries but the growers and sellers also sprung into action claiming the decision would affect the economy of the country and destroy their business.

Global watchdog says Islamabad should increase size of pictorial warning on cigarette packs

The industry also wrote letters to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other departments saying the move not only would decrease the national revenue but would also encourage smuggling of cigarettes.

After the government’s decision, the World Health Organisation (WHO) sent a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and praised the first ever initiative against smoking in South Asia.

It may be noted that the combined revenue of the world’s six largest tobacco companies in 2013 was 342 billion dollars.

Dr Tahir Turk said the decision to increase the pictorial warning had shocked the tobacco industry. After Pakistan’s decision, India also decided to increase the size of the pictorial warning to 85 per cent of the cigarette packets. Nepal followed suit and said it would introduce 90 per cent pictorial warning on cigarette packets in May.

Sri Lanka has decided to increase the warning size to 85 per cent, he added.

“Pakistan is ranked as the fifth highest country of tuberculosis incidence in the world which is caused by smoking. About 62,000 people die of TB every year in the country. The government should be careful about the campaign launched by the tobacco industry,” he said.

Dr Fouad Aslam, a representative of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, said over 108,800 people died each year in Pakistan due to the tobacco-related diseases.

“Pictorial warning is also necessary to discourage children from smoking. Whatever the tobacco industry is claiming about the tax and increase in the use of smuggled cigarettes is wrong because the industry had made the same claim in the developed countries a few decades ago,” he said.

Nadeem Iqbal, the executive coordinator of the Network for Consumer Protection, the local organisations working in the health sector were encouraged by the support of the international community.

“The industry has trying to stop the implementation of the decision to increase the pictorial warning on cigarette packets. The government should ensure the implementation of the decision in order to improve the health of the citizens,” he said.

According to the Tobacco Atlas, more than 20 million Pakistani adults (about 27.9 per cent of men and 5.4 per cent of women) smoke tobacco.

In 2010, 12.2 per cent of male deaths (1,645 men every week) and 4.5 per cent of female deaths (442 women every week) were caused by tobacco. Approximately, 555,000 Pakistani children also use tobacco every day and 9.9 per cent of boys (ranging from 6.1 per cent in Lahore to 14.1 per cent in Karachi) smoked tobacco.

Published in Dawn March 25th , 2015

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