THE proceedings at a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services in Islamabad on Tuesday could well be described as a theatre of the absurd. On the agenda was a discussion on The Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health (Amendment) Bill 2016, which calls for a ban on tobacco advertisements. The proposed legislation, tabled by PML-Q Senator Mushahid Hussain, seeks to prevent retailers from putting up advertisements for cigarettes inside their outlets that can tempt the youth. If passed into law, it would also ban tobacco companies from sponsoring health camps, tree plantation campaigns, and sporting and other events. In other words, the participants at the meeting had a more or less straightforward task at hand. However, most of those present outdid themselves in defying logic and science to oppose the bill.

The worldwide trend against smoking began in the West decades ago with the emergence of incontrovertible data showing the link between smoking and various diseases. Studies have found that up to 50pc of smokers die of a smoking-related illness, and smoking decreases lifespan by up to 10 years. As it does in Pakistan today, the powerful tobacco industry in Western countries used a range of tactics, which included issuing outright denials, manipulating facts, co-opting lobby groups to influence policy, etc — all to avoid government regulation of its products and protect its colossal financial interests. That battle has now moved to the shores of developing countries. However, given the benefit of hindsight, it is outrageous that we are revisiting old, discredited arguments, and that our public representatives can see fit to tout the tobacco industry’s ‘contribution’ to our economy while ignoring the enormous cost it exacts on public health and productivity. Instead of pandering to powerful corporate interests, the government must strictly enforce the ban on public spaces in the country and follow through on its decision to enhance pictorial warnings on cigarette packs. Every attempt by tobacco companies at marketing themselves must be firmly resisted.

Published in Dawn September 1st, 2016