RAWALPINDI: The number of smokers in India is the same as that in Pakistan, but it still manages to earn six times more revenue. Pakistan is among the countries with the lowest tax rates on cigarettes.

According to conservative estimates by public health experts, over 210,000 people die in Pakistan every year from diseases related to smoking.

A network of academic researchers and public health and development professionals, Capital Calling, said at least 35 million adults fell into the death trap of smoking, and out of these, one-fifth were unable to quit the habit.

In a statement, the network backed the government’s decision to enforce taxes on tobacco, saying that the recent taxes enforced on smoking were too little, too late.

Taxes put on cigarettes amount to much less than Rs615 billion ($3.85 billion), which was the amount spent by the country on smoking-related diseases and deaths in 2019.

It said the Federal Excise Duty (FED) generated up to 80pc of the revenue from domestically-produced cigarettes in the country.

Dr Hassan Shehzad, from Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI), said for affluent families, cigarettes were only a health hazard, but for the poor, it was an economic challenge as well as a health one because the amount spent on tobacco could be used to buy food items.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2023