Parliamentary Secretary of National Health Services Dr. Nausheen Hamid said that tobacco use was a cause of death of around 160,100 Pakistanis every year and this Ministry was taking demand and supply reduction measures to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use in the country. As a signatory to Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Pakistan took numerous measures to protect public health policies with respect to tobacco control from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. She was addressing the gathering of national workshop on tobacco industry interference in Islamabad today. Parliamentary Secretary said that about 24 million adults currently use tobacco in any form in Pakistan. The youth of Pakistan were being targeted by the tobacco industry so that “replacement smokers” could be recruited. To address this major health issue, this Ministry took demand and supply reduction measures. As demand reduction measures, Pakistan enhanced size of Pictorial Health Warning (PHW) on cigarette packs. We are in process of notifying Pictorial Health Warning of 60% size, which will be implemented from 1st June, 2019. We are coordinating with Ministry of Finance to increase taxes on tobacco products especially cigarettes. Parliamentary Secretary further said that this Ministry sensitized the health departments on Article 5.3 of FCTC. Consultative workshops were conducted at provincial level in collaboration with WHO. Tobacco Industry has been ousted form all Committees formed for tobacco control. Speaking on the occasion, WHO Representative Pakistan, Dr. Ni’ma Saeed Abid said that the prevalence of tobacco product use in Pakistan is very high (19.1%) particularly among men (31.8%) and women (5.8 %). Youth and women are the prime target of tobacco industry. He emphasized on introducing plain packaging on cigarette packs in Pakistan. He suggested to implement WHO Best Buys to reduce tobacco use. Mr. Muhammad Javed, Project Manager, Tobacco Control Cell gave a detailed presentation on measures taken to control tobacco epidemic in Pakistan. He informed that Tobacco Control Cell (TCC) banned sale of loose cigarettes sticks, banned import of tobacco and non-tobacco sheesha and related substances, banned tobacco advertisement in print, electronic and outdoor media, banned cigarette packs having less than 20 cigarettes, illegalized designated smoking areas / smoking rooms, declared public places 100% smoke-free, raised awareness among masses, and built capacity of authorized persons to support enforcement. Speaking on the occasion, Malik Tanveer from FBR said the Inland Revenue Enforcement Network has conducted about 600 raids on illicit cigarettes and about 1 billion illicit cigarette sticks seized. Dr. Fatima Elawa, Advisor, WHO EMRO Office, Dr. Ghazi Zaatari, American University of Beirut, Dr. Roberto from WHO and Shahzad Alam Khan also spoke on the occasion. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
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