Health taxes

Smoking cigarettes has numerous health hazards. Life-threating diseases such as cardiac arrest, diabetes, cancer, and kidney or liver failure are directly attributed to smoking. Soft drinks are just as dangerous. There is a continuous rise in the number of people with diabetes in Pakistan. These drinks contain an ingredient aspartame which plays havoc with consumers’ health.

To discourage the consumption of both, the government should levy hefty taxes on such products. This is exactly what other countries, like the UK, have done.

Shahzad Lodhi

Rawalpindi