Health levy bills: Implementation can help govt generate Rs105bn: PANAH SG

ISLAMABAD: The government can easily generate Rs105 billion by additionally taxing the tobacco and beverage industry through implementing health levy bills.

This was stated by Dr Sanaullah Ghumman, the secretary general Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH) in a chat with Business Recorder, here on Friday, saying that sugary drinks and tobacco are causing serious health problems and both are not essential daily use items, so the government must put additional taxes on them.

He said that in this connection, PANAH has given the proposals to the government according to the implementation of the health levy bill can generate up to Rs55 billion from further taxing the tobacco industry. And if another pending proposal of the Ministry of Health is also implemented it could generate Rs50 billion.

PANAH requests that along with passing the health levy bill on tobacco and sugary drinks, they should be taxed to make them more expensive, which will have many benefits, revenue will be filled, the health burden will be reduced, and diseases will be reduced. There will also be a reduction in the sufferings of the people, which will be a win-win situation for the country and the common man will not be affected.

He said that to deal with the current economic challenges, the government on the directions of the IMF is trying to find more avenues of revenue generation for which everything is being taxed, so this is the right time for the government to consider PANAH’s proposals as it will have no financial implication for the common man. He said that the government should work on policies to protect citizens from heart and sugar-related diseases.

According to the study, tax is also considered an excellent weapon to prevent these factors as according to the World Health Organization (WHO) if a 10 per cent tax is imposed on something, its consumption decreases by eight per cent. When talking about heart and related diseases, tobacco and sugary drinks are one of the main causes of them.

He said that tobacco and beverages are not the necessities of life and the people using these items are buying diseases with money. He said that tobacco is the main cause of thousands of deaths annually, around 5,000 people affected by tobacco-related diseases are daily admitted to hospitals, and Rs615 billion is being spent annually on diseases caused by tobacco.

Dr Ghumman said that similarly, billions of rupees worth of sugary drinks are consumed every year, which are not necessities of life, and we buy many diseases with money, including obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, and many types of cancer. Around 2.64 billion US dollars are spent every year on the treatment of diseases caused by the consumption of tobacco and sugary drinks in Pakistan.

He said that keeping all these costs and benefits of tobacco and sugary drinks in mind, PANAH requests the concerned authorities instead of imposing more taxes on essential items such as petrol, electricity, gas, and other essential daily use items, the government must consider further taxing tobacco and sugary drinks, the prices of which in Pakistan are lower than those of other countries.

He said that in the United Kingdom, the price of a pack of cigarettes is 17 pounds, which in terms of Pak rupees is Rs3,800, while its price in Pakistan is less than 100 rupees. Similarly, the prices of sugary drinks in Pakistan are very low compared to other countries. Taxing them will not affect the common man and will generate revenue to meet the IMF conditions, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023