Every 10% increase in cigarette prices reduces consumption
by 3 to 5%; reduces underage smoking by 6 to 7%
Islamabad
Pakistan needs to withstand the pressure tactics of the tobacco industry by moving in the direction of plain packaging of cigarettes. Moreover, it needs to follows the World Health Organization’s recommendation of raising taxes on tobacco products as a measure to arrest the rising trend of underage and adult smoking. Every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by 3 to 5%; reduces the number of smokers by 3 to 5%, reduces underage smoking by 6 to 7%, and reduces smoking among pregnant women by 7%.
Consultant pulmonologist at Shifa International Hospital (SIH) Dr. Sohail Naseem shared these data during a seminar organised by SIH to mark World No Tobacco Day here on Tuesday. The seminar was arranged to highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and to advocate for effective policies for reduction in tobacco consumption.
Referring to the WHO’s recommendation for plain packaging, Dr. Sohail mentioned how tobacco companies promote smoking by using the packaging as advertisement. The colorful packaging makes the product more desirable and eye-catching, encourages people to buy and consume, and at the same time distracts them from warnings.
This year, many countries in Europe have passed laws in favour of plain packaging, which will be implemented in May 2016. “Pakistan too should adopt such measures in line with Article 13 (tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Policy makers are encouraged to resist the tobacco industry’s interference in the policy process and be prepared to withstand opposition to the measure by tobacco manufacturers,” Dr. Sohail added.
“Tobacco kills one person every six seconds, 13,699 smokers per day, and 5 million smokers per year,” Dr. Sohail stated. It is common knowledge now that tobacco smoke contains 4,000 chemicals, of which 250 are known to be harmful for humans and 70 cause cancers. More than 600,000 nonsmokers are dying each year from secondhand smoke worldwide, one-third of these being children.
Consultant oncologist SIH Dr. Muhammad Furrukh informed that in Pakistan, smoking causes an estimated 90 per cent of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80 per cent in women and claims the lives of 100,000 people every year.
An estimated 90 percent of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are caused by smoking. “A major part of household income is being spent on smoking rather than on health and education. Eighty per cent of cigarettes are consumed in developing countries including Pakistan,” Dr. Farrukh said.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr. Abdul Wahab Yousafzai said, tobacco use is decreasing in developed countries due to legislative measures, increase in taxes, ban on tobacco advertisements, etc., which is why these companies are now focusing on developing countries.
“In 2002, the total tobacco-related health education budget of the Ministry of Health was 2 million while one tobacco company spent over 6.1 million on advertising. On the average, Pakistanis burn away Rs. 562 million every day in smoking cigarettes, and an almost equal amount on smokeless tobacco. There is no data available to measure the healthcare costs incurred on treatment of diseases caused by tobacco,” Dr. Yousafzai stated, adding smoking will kill 1 billion persons by the end of this century. He said half of the Pakistani men are regular smokers and about 55 percent families in Pakistan have at least one person who smokes. He termed sheesha as being equally dangerous.
Dr. Yousufzai termed tobacco as the gateway drug because adolescent smokers are more likely to begin drinking alcohol and using illicit drug than non-smoking adolescents. “While smoking tobacco, the smoker will feel “high” and relaxed, this encourages him to start drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, using cocaine, and other drugs,” he pointed out. He urged the government to take public health actions such as decreased access to tobacco, regulation of products, increased costs. Moreover, there is also a need to eliminate passive smoking from the workplace and public places. “Smoking in public places should be restricted on grounds of public health issues,” he stressed.
Consultant cardiologist Dr. Saeedullah Shah stated that over 70 per cent people with cardiovascular diseases are smokers. Smoking causes failure to taste food. It also shrinks arteries and causes various cardiac diseases. “The rate of death from heart attack is 70 percent greater in male smokers than non-smokers,” he added.
Dr. Shah said various cancers including acute myeloid leukemia, lung cancer, mouth cancer, throat cancer, stomach cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the cervix, cancer of the esophagus, kidney cancer, cancer of the larynx (voice box) and uterus cancer are caused by direct smoking, secondhand smoking, chewing tobacco, and using pan, ‘gutka’ or ‘sheesha’. “Smokers face an increased risk of certain types of throat and stomach cancers, even years after they quit,” he remarked.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Shah said, “The lesson of the day is that tobacco is the single largest preventable cause of death in world today.”