ISLAMABAD: Health tax bill is ready to be presented in congress and its immediate perpetration can induce Rs60 billion profit for government.
This profit can help in reducing the damage caused by tobacco assiduity to health and frugality.
This was the crux of a discussion organised by Society for Protection of Rights of the Child(Sparc) on Wednesday. The discussants requested the government to put the tax to save Pakistani children and youth from the damages of tobacco use.
Administrative Secretary National Health Services Dr. Shazia Sobia Aslam Soomro participated intimidating statistics that 1,200 children begin smoking daily and 1,70,000 people die due to tobacco convinced conditions every time.
She mentioned that ministry of health was committed to supporting all pro-child moves similar as healthy tax because they were important to insure that the number of smokers in Pakistan, which is formerly at 31 million, doesn’t farther increase.
profitable consequences of tobacco consumption in Pakistan were participated byDr. Ziauddin Islam- Country Lead-Vital Strategies; Former Specialized Focal Person of Govt. of Pakistan for World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control(FCTC).
He said that the profitable cost of smoking in Pakistan was Rs615.07 billion which was equal to1.6 pc of Pakistan’s GDP but the profit generated from the tobacco assiduity was only 20pc of the total cost.
“In 2019, Federal Cabinet approved a bill to put Health Levy( fresh duty) to drop consumption of tobacco and induce 60 billion rupees per time. still numerous policy makers have continuously blocked the bill and hence tobacco products have come more affordable due to increase in per capita income,” he said.
Sparc Programme Manager Khalil Ahmed Dogar mentioned that children and low- income people were primary target of tobacco assiduity.
He suggested that immediate preface of health tax bill in Parliament was needed so it could come an Act and be enforced across the country.
“In addition, the prices of tobacco products must be increased to match affectation and increase in per capita income. But most importantly, strict monitoring of tobacco assiduity is needed to insure compliance of laws,” he said.
Shariq Mahmood Khan, CEO Chromatic Trust, said that Pakistan was one of the smallest ranked countries in the world in terms of tobacco taxation and since tobacco products were causing fiscal loss, the assiduity should be the one to pay for the imbalance it has created.
“Assessing health tax and spending the increased profit generated on public health schemes, is the most demanded sustainable result to drop tobacco consumption and ameliorate our public health structure,” he said.
