ISLAMABAD: Health is a fundamental right, provision of which is the government’s responsibility, Pakistan National Heart Association (Panah) Secretary General Sanaullah Ghumman said during a press conference held to shed light light on reasons for delay in the implementation of health levy on tobacco products.

A bill in this regard was also approved by the cabinet last year.

Smoking and sugary drinks are a major cause of various illnesses including heart disease, he said, adding: “All international bodies including World Health Organisation [WHO] stress the need to reduce consumption of such deadly products by increasing of taxes on them.”

Senior lawyers of the Supreme Court and representatives of other human rights organisations were also present.

Members of the association along with other stakeholders have urged the government to impose levy on tobacco products.

Malik Imran, the country representative of Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is deliberately delaying implementation of health levy on tobacco products which was approved by the cabinet with special directions from Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Due to this delay, he said, Pakistan lost more than Rs50 billion and is continuously losing large revenues which could have been utilised for various schemes of public welfare by the government, including Ehsaas Programme or Universal Health Insurance Card.

Lawyer Mohammad Akhlaq said the board continues to delay implementation of Health Levy Bill for invalid reasons, adding, it is not the relevant authority to contest legal position of the bill when the same was vetted by the law and justice department and was approved by cabinet members.

The cabinet, during its meeting held on May, 28 2019 approved imposition of health levy on tobacco products at Rs10 per cigarette pack which was included in the Finance Bill 2019-20.

However, the levy was not imposed because FBR failed to follow clear directions from the cabinet which led to the bill not being included in the final budget document.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2020