LAHORE – The share of smokers among Pakistani youth has historically been increasing each year while globally it has been falling due to higher taxes and awareness, leading to a significant decrease in health problems and deaths. The trend is expected to reverse the recent hike in taxes on cigarettes.
Tobacco smoking is one of the world’s largest health problems. Millions of people live in poor health because of smoking and researchers estimate that every year around 8 million people die an early death due to smoking, according to a research report.
In Pakistan, around 337,500 people die due to smoking each year while causing a burden of around Rs620 billion on health facilities. The government jacked up the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on cigarettes in February to discourage its use and boost its revenues, but the multinational tobacco companies have been lobbying to reverse it.
In Pakistan, multinational cigarette companies continue to spread propaganda stating that an increase in cigarette prices results in illegal cigarettes becoming available in the market. In reality, with an increase in taxes, fewer people take up smoking and many people quit smoking. The overall result is that consumption reduces. This results in losses to these international cigarette companies that propagate low taxes to make more profits.
Anti-tobacco activists have urged the government to further increase taxes on tobacco products to discourage their use, especially among the youth. They say that around 1200 children were taking up smoking in Pakistan daily which was pushing the share of smokers up unlike the developed and many developing countries. They said the trend could be arrested only through an increase in taxes, making the cigarettes out of the reach of children.
The research shows that smoking has been a major health problem for many decades. For the entire 20th century it is estimated that around 100 million people died prematurely because of smoking, most of them in rich countries.
The number of deaths from smoking is falling in rich countries; rising in low-to-middle-income countries like Pakistan, it said.
The World Health Organisation said that raising taxes on tobacco products which lead to increases in their price makes tobacco less affordable. When tobacco becomes less affordable people use it less and youth initiation is prevented. Because youth and low-income groups are more responsive to increases in tobacco prices, they disproportionately enjoy the health and economic benefits of quitting and not starting.
The WHO said that saving lives with tobacco taxes lessens the enormous healthcare burden and economic losses that result from tobacco-related disease. Tobacco taxation is also relatively inexpensive to implement and generates significant revenues over the short and medium term.
