ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is one of the top tobacco consuming countries standing at the 7th position globally and first in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) in terms of the number of tobacco product users.

Experts shared these figures during a media interaction held here on Wednesday.

According to the experts, the cigarette consumption is increasing in developing countries and Pakistan is no exception and has witnessed an upsurge in recent years. Instead of generating additional revenue from the cigarette industry, the country has incurred billions in losses, both in terms of revenue and increased health costs.

According to an estimate, the country produces more than 60 billion sticks of cigarettes every year. Contrary to this, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) data revealed all tax collection targets from this industry were missed during last seven years.

The total loss, estimated by a number of research studies including one by the SDPI (think tank), during the last seven years has been estimated at Rs 567 billion.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) emphasises the need to safeguard tobacco tax policies from vested interests of cigarette companies for effective development, implementation, and enforcement of public health initiatives. However, it did not happen in Pakistan.

The study also highlighted how high and middle-income countries successfully imposed high taxes on cigarette products to decrease consumption and increase government revenues, but the fact remains that Pakistan still lacks a clear strategy on using cigarette taxation and prices as a public health tool.

Pakistan has signed Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), the multilateral treaty initiated by World Health Organization (WHO) in 2004 to curb smoking.

Two decades post FCTC, the cigarette industry is influencing decision making and the country stands at the losing end – loss of revenue and extra burden on the country’s fragile healthcare system, they added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024