Pakistan urged to learn from German experience to decrease smoking prevalence

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan can effectively learn from German experience to bring down smoking trends in Pakistan by using innovative ways.

This was stated by Dr John Njenga Karugia, from Institute of Asian and African Studies, Humboldt Universitätzu Berlin while speaking to a proactive session titled Breaking Myths about Smoking: Quest for Facts held at International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) here on Friday.

He cited data to show that trend of smoking in German society has been gradually coming down as the government has created awareness about hazards of smoking in innovative ways.

He said cosmopolitan cities need to adopt a proactive approach to protect their citizens from smoking. He said second-hand smoking is a big threat to public health. It cannot be countered without putting in place some laws and creating awareness in society. He said smoking at public places was banned in Germany in 2007.

Extending his argument, Dr Inamur Rehman, chairman of Department of Media and Communication Studies at International Islamic University said that there is a need to keep a watch on movements of cigarette manufactures in media.

Though advertisement of tobacco products has been banned, the multinational companies penetrate in society through media using false arguments and pushing around false data.

He cited a report by Capital Calling, a network of academic researchers and professionals that states that increase in taxes on cigarettes has resulted into decline in their consumption in the market.

The report says, “In 2017, the FED on cigarettes was effectively cut by a whopping 50 percent with the introduction of a three-tier excise duty framework for cigarettes, incorporating a new tier specifically designed for low-priced brands. The tax rate applicable to this newly introduced tier underwent a reduction of 48 percent, decreasing from Rs1.5 per stick to Rs0.8 per stick.”

The report stated that the multinational companies started manipulating the decision by lowering prices of its most sellable products which were in Tier-II prior to The Finance Act 2017 to fit them, technically, in Tier-III and instead of paying tax at the rate of 33.4 per pack of 20 they were paying only Rs16 per pack of 20 cigarettes, Dr Rehman added.

In its report submitted to the committee, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) contradicted FBR’s view point of regarding benefits accrued from bringing in third tier of FED on cigarettes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023