ISLAMABAD: Pakistan National Heart Association (Panah) has urged the government to tax unnecessary ultra-processed products and things that cause non-communicable diseases (NCDs), on which the tax is zero percent in Pakistan, which will reduce their use and also reduce diseases.

It has also urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to allow the allocations in health sector and suggest steps for controlling the NCDs because otherwise economic deterioration will increase day by day along with the loss of useful people in Pakistan.

Panah Secretary General Sanaullah Ghumman, in a statement, has stated that NCDs were not only the biggest cause of death in Pakistan but also a huge burden on Pakistan’s economy.

“If they are not controlled, the economic deterioration will increase day by day along with the loss of very useful people in Pakistan and we will continue to use the loans taken from other places including IMF only on these diseases and the debt burden on Pakistan will increase further, which will further increase poverty in the country and further increase the suffering of the people,” he said.

“To stop the flood of NCDs, proven policy action is needed to prevent the factors that cause them, learning from the world’s experiences. The biggest reason for this is our unhealthy diet. To reduce its use, according to the world’s proven tax policy, instead of making it more expensive by taxing the necessities of life, we should tax those unnecessary ultra-processed products and things that cause diseases, on which the tax is zero percent in Pakistan, which will reduce their use and also reduce diseases. The IMF should also draw the government’s attention to taxes on ultra-processed products,” he suggested.

Mr Ghumman said that NCDs were becoming a big problem in Pakistan. He said that according to the 2021 report of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), there were about 1,100 deaths every day in Pakistan due to diabetes alone and the annual cost of its management in Pakistan reached $2.64 billion.

“Panah is working at every level to educate people about the prevention of NCDs and to work with law and policy makers to solve this problem. For this, taking advantage of the world’s experiences, it is repeatedly drawing the attention of policy makers to such policy measures that the world has used to solve this problem, the most prominent of which is increasing taxes on such things to keep them out of the reach of people and this policy is being used by many countries,” he said.

“This will not only reduce the burden of diseases by reducing the consumption of these items, but will also generate revenue and will not have to be taxed on the necessities of life, which will also reduce poverty and improve the economy,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2025