Protesting at the Federal Health Ministry's decision to grant extension in deadline to tobacco industry for raising the size of pictorial health warning on cigarette packs to 85 percent, civil society has called upon the government to go for plain packaging and sign the WHO's Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products.
TheNetwork for Consumer Protection relayed this message on the eve of the World No Tobacco Day "Stop illicit trade of tobacco products" in a gathering of tobacco control advocates in front of the National Press Club here on Saturday. Seemingly under pressure from tobacco industry the Ministry of National Health Services Regulation & Coordination (NHSRC) has twice delayed the implementation of raised pictorial health warning. The recent GATS says that 77.5pc of current smokers noticed health warnings on cigarette packages and 29.7pc of current smokers thought about quitting after seeing the warnings.
Participants of the gathering urged the government to take the recently released results of Global Adult Tobacco Survey as an eye opener and accelerate its efforts to enforce all the tobacco control measures as enunciated in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) including implementation of the Article 3 of the Protocol that aims at eliminating all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products. The protocol is in accordance with Article 15 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Article 15 of WHO FCTC regards elimination of all forms of illicit trade in tobacco products as an essential component of tobacco control and requires nations of the world to take measures to eliminate illicit trade of tobacco products, including smuggling, illicit manufacturing and counterfeiting.
A large number of health professionals, youths and tobacco control advocates gathered outside the National Press Club and celebrated the World No Tobacco Day. The participants had brought along families and children to celebrate the day. They chanted slogans against Tobacco Industry advocating stringent laws on Tobacco. The highlight of the evening however, was presence of skulled mannequins depicting smokers who died prematurely due to excessive use of tobacco or as an impact of second-hand smoking.
Talking to media on this occasion, Nadeem Iqbal Executive Coordinator of TheNetwork said that according to recent GATS report launched on May 28, 2015 almost every 9 out of 10 adults consider smoking injurious to health but still 29 percent smokers in Pakistan start smoking before the age of 17 years. This shows that smoking is not an awareness issue but a case of government failure in implementing the existing laws and strengthening their enforcement, he said.
Tobacco industry is having free hand in marketing as the percentage of smokers who noticed cigarette marketing in stores is 34.4 pc while around 42pc notice it at places other than point of sale. While 31.8pc of men, 5.8pc of women, and 19.1pc overall (23.9 million adults) currently used tobacco in any form, the government failure in protecting non-smokers health is evident, Nadeem said, from the findings that 69.1pc adults are exposed to tobacco smoke at the workplace. Of them 72.5pc are male and 37.3pc are female. 86pc adults are exposed to tobacco smoke in restaurants. Almost 8 in every 10 adults are exposed to smoking in public transport.
According to Nadeem Iqbal tobacco is also causing malnutrition in majority of families as on an average, a current smoker spent Rs 767 per month on manufactured cigarettes. This amount is equal to 40-kg wheat flour bag. Average amount spent on 20 manufactured cigarettes is Rs 41. The biggest frustration is when one sees that percentage of adults who believe that smoking should not be allowed in indoor public places are 99.9%. Here one sees a complete failure of district governments, concluded Nadeem Iqbal.-PR