Govt urged to raise taxes on tobacco by 30pc

Leading health experts citing facts from a World Health Organization (WHO) report on rising tobacco consumption in Pakistan has urged the government to raise taxes on tobacco at least by 30 percent to restraint tobacco consumption among youth in the country.

In this regard, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) held a press conference here on Friday at National Press Club, titled, “Saving Youth by Increasing Taxes on Tobacco” and demanded of the government to ensure control on tobacco by raising taxes in Fiscal Year 2021-22 on tobacco by 30 percent at least.

Khalil Ahmed Dogar, Program Manager, SPARC shared compelling facts from a WHO report saying, that about 1200 children in Pakistan between the age of 6 and 15 start smoking every day, which they added is due to the affordable rates of cigarettes in the country.

He cited that in Pakistan alone about 166,000 people die due to tobacco related diseases. One of the proven policies to reduce tobacco control world over has been raising taxes, hence this fiscal year the government is urged to raise taxes on tobacco at least by 30 percent.

Ch. Sana Ullah Ghuman, Secretary General, Pakistan National Heart Association (PANAH) said tobacco taxation is a critical element of a comprehensive tobacco control strategy. However, to fully realize the benefits, it is important to understand the impact of increased taxes among high-risk subpopulations.

He further added that the tobacco industry is mainly targeting youth which consist of 64 percent of population which is easy target for tobacco industry.

Sahriq Khan, Program Director, Chromatic Trust, said that since young people do not have financial means, they are more sensitive to price increases and are likely to be discouraged from initiating smoking if prices are raised.

It is increasingly important to save the youth as Pakistan has one of the largest youth cohorts in the world and products like tobacco cause poor health and loss of productivity. He also mentioned the heath costs for tobacco related diseases and lost productivity is much higher than the revenue generated by tobacco products. Hence raising taxes on tobacco at least by 30 percent is imperative this fiscal year.