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| No bombshell for tobacco industry this year |
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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Islamabad
The submissiveness of the Ministry of Health and its partners in the crusade against tobacco control in Pakistan is becoming the triumph of the tobacco industry.
No new restrictions on tobacco advertisements; no headway in introduction of rotating or picture-based health warnings on cigarette packs; no ban on designated smoking areas in line with the World Health Organisation’s strategy of 100 per cent smoke-free environments; and no major breakthroughs in implementation of the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002 are in the pipeline ahead of the fast approaching World No-Tobacco Day on May 31.
“Unlike the past, there will no bombshell for the tobacco industry this year,” an official within the Ministry of Health confided to ‘The News’ here on Monday. The imposition of new restrictions and stricter regulations on advertisement of tobacco products ahead of World No-Tobacco Day had become a norm during the tenure of the previous government.
Last year, the government maximised the annual observation by imposing a virtual ban on outdoor advertisements by reducing the size of out-of-shop fascias to one square inch; and prohibiting all sorts of electronic media advertisements by restricting the airing time between 3 to 4 a.m.
In 2006, the government imposed restrictions on outdoor hoardings by limiting their maximum size to one square meter, and forced a virtual ban on all print media advertisements by restricting their size to one cm column. Similarly, in 2005, another bombshell fell on the tobacco industry when the government announced strict restrictions on electronic and print media advertisements ahead of World No Tobacco Day.
“A case for incorporation of rotating health warnings on cigarette packs has long been put up to the Ministry of Health for approval. There has been no decision on the issue as yet,” reliable sources within the Ministry told this correspondent. He said, Pakistan is not even close to introducing rotating health warnings, leave alone picture-based health warnings. “No such idea is under consideration so far in spite of the serious need for replacing the current warning with graphics,” he said. More than 16 countries including India, Jordan, Romania and Uruguay are using picture-based or circulated warnings on cigarette packs.
According to the National Action Plan for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NAP-NCD), “Large and more conspicuous warnings come to the consumer at no additional cost to the government. Successful examples exist of how innovative warnings have been effective in altering behaviours.” The report cites the example of Canada, where pictorial warnings cover 50 per cent of the pack surface. Given the high illiteracy rate in Pakistan, it is high time the government woke up to the need for pictorial representation of warnings.
The existence of two smoking lounges in the Parliament House, as well as on all major airports, also betrays the government’s utter disregard for last year’s World No Tobacco Day theme of ‘100 Percent Smoke-free Environments.’ The VVIP designated lounges within the Parliament are a sight to behold. The kind of investment made on these designated smoking areas would lure even a lifelong non-smoker to light a cigarette. “The government is mandated, under the law, to issue guidelines on designated smoking areas. This too is yet to become a reality,” the source said.
The Technical Advisory Group on Tobacco Control is said to have proposed a raise in taxes on tobacco and its products to the Federal Bureau of Revenue. “The ball is in the court of the FBR,” the source pointed out, adding, “In spite of the existence of anti-smuggling laws, the menace of counterfeit tobacco products is on the rise, translating into a loss of Rs10 billion to the revenue each year.” The fate of the Rs34 million PC-1 for the tobacco control programme is also uncertain.
There are also no plans yet to increase the prices of tobacco and its products as a deterrent. According to the NAP-NACD, tobacco products are cheaper and hence more accessible in Pakistan today than they were 15 years ago, largely because of lack of use of price and tax policies as a tool to control tobacco consumption despite evidence that the demand for tobacco is strongly affected by price.
People in low-income countries are more likely to respond to price increases. Researchers have calculated that if there were a sustained and real 10 per cent rise in the price of cigarettes over the average estimated price in each region of the world, 40 million people worldwide would quit smoking, and many more who would otherwise have taken up smoking, would be deterred from doing so.
Tobacco is a significant source of revenue, and it is this dependence that impedes efforts for its control. The NAP-NCD emphasizes that policy thinking needs to be diverted from the focus on gains in the form of revenue to the health costs of tobacco use.
The theme for this year’s World No Tobacco Day, ‘Smoking Free Youth,’ reflects the immediacy of restricting youth’s access to tobacco. According to WHO’s Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) in Pakistan, 9.8% youth living in Islamabad, 7.7% each in Lahore and Kasur and 13.5% in Quetta are likely to initiate smoking within the upcoming year. Data shared by the Tobacco Control Cell point to 1300 new converts every day, their majority being adolescents and young people.
Meanwhile, the Tobacco Control Cell is organizing today (Tuesday), a two-day consultative workshop for stakeholders on tobacco control. The aim is to give a wakeup call for action on implementation of the 2002 Ordinance. The Cell is also planning a collaborative event with the Ministry of Youth Affairs, youth organizations, and members of the youth parliament on May 29. While such meetings and interactions are useful in taking forward the country’s verbal agenda on tobacco control, they are futile unless matched with practical measures for implementation of the widely embraced Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). And the sooner the new government prioritizes action to defeat the designs of the tobacco industry while simultaneously protecting the health of its youth, the better.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
