Pakistan in Media

Once again the profit motive may trump the government in its efforts to improve the general health of the nation. The government had announced the introduction of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs and had given the industry a six-month deadline to print them as from January 1st 2010; thus joining 30 other countries having similar warnings. We are a signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which requires more than 160 countries to use large, clear, visible and legible warnings on cigarette packs and other tobacco products. There have been written warnings on cigarette packs for years, but in a country where a majority are illiterate the tobacco industry were sanguine about printing warnings that most if its customers could not read anyway. Pictures, so the saying goes, are worth more than a thousand words – indeed they are, and graphic depictions of what is going on inside your body whilst smoking a cigarette may just cut into the (un)healthy profit margins of the tobacco barons.

Dawn, Pakistan
Tuesday, 02 Jun, 2009

ACCORDING to a World Health Organisation estimate, there are over a billion regular smokers in the world — i.e. one-third of the global population aged 15 years and above. Given the gravity of tobacco-related diseases, this represents a massive burden on the world’s healthcare systems — for the figures related to the economic and social cost of tobacco abuse do not include the ill-effects suffered by passive smokers. Surveys undertaken in Pakistan indicate that there are at least 22 million smokers in the country, and uncounted others who use the substance in hukkas, shishas or in the form of chewing tobacco. While the government reportedly earns Rs38bn a year from the tobacco industry, this must be offset by the drain on the country’s healthcare system — likely to be far higher. The economic costs of tobacco-related illnesses have never been fully tabulated in Pakistan yet they are virtually certain to be colossal. Tobacco use thus puts unnecessary pressure on the subsidised state healthcare system, which is already notoriously overstretched and under-funded. At the same time, tobacco use also leads to a tangible drop in the financial comfort and quality of life of the citizenry: each pack bought and consequential illness treated represents a burden on household incomes.

These factors combine, meanwhile, to significantly affect the productivity levels of the workforce at a time when the country faces grave economic challenges and suffers the knock-on effects of a global recession. Distressingly, the rate of tobacco abuse appears to be growing in Pakistan, even amongst the educated young who are increasingly taking to the habit while in school or college. It is imperative that stricter measures be taken to control this menace. Earlier efforts such as banning smoking on public transport, and discouraging the glamorisation of the habit in the media had yielded some results. More must be done, however. Tobacco use must be banned in public areas and most importantly, regulations restricting the sale of tobacco to minors must be stringently enforced. Meanwhile, the citizenry must be educated about the dangers of using the substance in any form — there is no ‘safe’ tobacco.

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