Health Experts For Raising Taxes On Tobacco Products

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – APP –  ) :Health experts Friday urged to warn people about the dangers of tobacco, enforce ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship and raise taxes on tobacco.

According to them, there was a need to protect people from tobacco smoke, offer help to quit tobacco use and create awareness about negative effects of cigarettes on health of adolescents.

There was also a need to develop a multi-sectoral tobacco control policy with having ownership of all the relevant ministries, provinces, private sector and all stakeholders to implement World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), CEO, The Network for Consumer Protection, Nadeem Iqbal said.

He urged to adopt effective strategy to address FCTC Article 17, which calls for the provision of support for economically viable alternatives for tobacco growers.

He said that the role of the ministry of climate change was crucial to ensure implementation of article 18 of FCTC, which emphasized on “Protection of the environment and the health of persons.” He said that Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority should ensure regulation of the contents of tobacco products as per article 9 and 10 of the FCTC while other ministry concerned should ensure compliance of FCTC article 6 on price and tax measures to reduce the demand for tobacco.

He demanded to form an effective policy to help achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of a one-third reduction in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) premature mortality by 2030.

He said that this year World No Tobacco Day’s theme “tobacco and lung health” once again reminds the policymakers that they have to fully implement Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and NCDs health tax was a step in the right direction.

Medical expert Dr Wasim Khawaja from Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) said that according to WHO tobacco smoking was the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition where the build-up of pus-filled mucus in the lungs results in a painful cough and agonizing breathing difficulties.

He added the risk of developing COPD was particularly high among individuals who start smoking at a young age, as tobacco smoke significantly slows lung development. He said tobacco also exacerbates asthma, which restricts activity and contributes to disability.

He said that early smoking cessation was the most effective treatment for slowing the progression of COPD and improving asthma symptoms.

He said that infants exposed in-utero to tobacco smoke toxins, through maternal smoking or maternal exposure to second-hand smoke, frequently experience reduced lung growth and function.

Dr Khawaja said that young children exposed to second-hand smoke were at risk of the onset and exacerbation of asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis, and frequent lower respiratory infections.

He said globally, an estimated 60,000 children die before the age of five due to lower respiratory infections caused by second-hand smoke.

He said those who live on into adulthood continue to suffer the health consequences of second-hand smoke exposure, as frequent lower respiratory infections in early childhood significantly increase risk of developing COPD in adulthood.

Dr Sharif Astori from Federal Government Polyclinic (FGPC) said that Tuberculosis (TB) damages the lungs and reduces lung function, which was further exacerbated by tobacco smoking. About one quarter of the world‘s population has latent TB, placing them at risk of developing the active disease, he added.

He said people who smoke were twice as likely to fall ill with TB. Active TB, compounded by the damaging lung health effects of tobacco smoking, substantially increases risk of disability and death from respiratory failure.

He said tobacco smoke was a very dangerous form of indoor air pollution as it contains over 7,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Though smoke may be invisible and odorless, it can linger in the air for up to five hours, putting those exposed at risk of lung cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and reduced lung function, Dr Astori added