{"id":5904,"date":"2025-05-28T18:40:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T13:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/?p=5904"},"modified":"2025-05-28T18:40:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T13:40:22","slug":"tobacco-costs-pakistan-164-000-lives-us-2-5-billion-annually-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/?p=5904","title":{"rendered":"Tobacco costs Pakistan 164 000 lives, US$ 2.5 billion annually: WHO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning about the devastating toll of tobacco use in Pakistan, which claims approximately 164,000 lives annually and drains the economy of over PKR 700 billion (roughly US$ 2.5 billion).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calling the crisis both a public health emergency and an economic threat, WHO is urging to implement stronger tobacco control measures\u2014particularly through significantly higher taxes\u2014to curb consumption, save lives, and ease the national burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The organization said all tobacco products on the market, without exception and regardless of its manufacturer,&nbsp; are extremely harmful to health and pose a major risk to vulnerable populations such as children and teenagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As World No Tobacco Day \u2013 observed on 31 May \u2013 approaches, WHO reaffirms its commitment to partnering with Pakistan to address the chronic health crisis caused by tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WHO advocates for taxation to be used as a tool to reduce consumption while increasing revenues that can be directed towards health and development priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Without additional measures, the harmful impact of tobacco on public health and the national economy will continue to jeopardize Pakistan\u2019s efforts to advance the 2030 Agenda and its&nbsp; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Research has shown that tobacco taxation is effective in increasing revenues for the Government while also reducing consumption, tobacco-related diseases and pressure on health systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, following a tax increase on tobacco products in Pakistan, tobacco use declined by 19.2%, with 26.3% of smokers cutting down on cigarette consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Revenue collection from the Federal Excise Duty (FED) on cigarettes increased by 66%, from PKR 142 billion in 2022\u201323 to 237 billion in 2023\u201324.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Pakistan, FED rates on cigarettes have not increased since February 2023 \u2013 making them more affordable \u2013 and taxation levels remain below WHO\u2019s recommended 75% of the retail price. This presents an opportunity to strengthen control measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2004, and WHO&nbsp; provides continuous technical support to the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination and the Federal Board of Revenue in areas such as tobacco tax policy and track-and-trace implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is no such thing as a safe tobacco product. Tobacco is a devastating burden on public health, for the economy, for our children and for our grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tobacco kills up to half of its users who don\u2019t quit, overstretches health systems and also harms non-smokers in our communities and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Make no mistake, all tobacco products on the market \u2013 without exception \u2013 are extremely toxic and dangerous,\u201d said WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Dapeng Luo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WHO stands with the Government of Pakistan as it strives to reduce tobacco consumption and save lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning about the devastating toll of tobacco use in Pakistan, which claims approximately 164,000 lives annually and drains the economy of over PKR 700 billion (roughly US$ 2.5 billion). Calling the crisis both a public health emergency and an economic threat, WHO is urging to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","inline_featured_image":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3859443944190656_798604363342440":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5906,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5904\/revisions\/5906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakjazbo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}