Tobacco.org

Roll it & smoke it  

There are supposed to be smoke-free public places with smoking restrictions all over Pakistan. However, we all know that even the '100% smoke-free' facilities are not smoke-free in reality. The only implementation we ever witness is some sporadic advertisements in the print media by the government. Similarly, there are tax laws to increase prices of cigarettes and keep them out of reach of the youth. However, the market is flooded with local and smuggled brands of cheap cigarettes that have been put on racks with out paying any duties. The recent addition to such paper laws is the restriction of offering free stuff with cigarettes. . . . Such free incentives do entice the youth into smoking. In reality, though, these laws are only on paper.

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• The Taliban and Tobacco 

As government sanctions restrict traditional sources of terrorist financing, Pakistani militant groups increasingly rely on proceeds from counterfeit cigarette production and smuggling, intelligence sources say. Although income figures are rough estimates at best, profits from the illicit cigarette trade account for as much as 20 percent of funding for these militant groups, second only to heroin production, according to terrorism experts in Pakistan. "Taliban and other militant groups do not have to do much," says Ikram Sehgal, a senior defense and security analyst who heads SMS Security, Pakistan's leading private security company. "They simply receive taxes on a regular basis from owners of illegal and legal cigarette factories and later for the safe passage they provide to the convoys."

Sahib Ayub Afridi: local philanthropist, convicted drug smuggler, and top cigarette counterfeiter in Pakistan.The Afridi case is part of a broader trend of terrorism groups relying on contraband to finance their activities, experts say. Even if efforts to cut the region's booming heroin production are successful -- an unlikely prospect -- the lucrative tobacco trade suggests how hard it will be to stanch funding to terrorists and insurgents in areas far from government control. The world's longest-running civil wars are fueled by contraband according to a 2002 study by Stanford University's James Fearon. Cocaine smuggling has largely propelled FARC's 40-year insurgency in Colombia. Diamonds have funded civil wars in Sierra Leone and Angola. Opium has led to drawn-out conflicts in Afghanistan and Burma.

In the badlands of the Afghan-Pakistan border, the challenges are particularly daunting.

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Contraband destroyed 

ISLAMABAD: Customs authorities have set on fire a huge quantity of alcohol, hashish and counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes at the Tarnol Customs warehouse here.

Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Sohail Ahmed, on the occasion, said the huge quantity of contraband was seized from unscrupulous elements during the crackdown launched by the FBR against criminals. He said a countrywide operation would be launched soon in order to effectively control rising incidents of smuggling and other crimes.

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Cigarette Smuggling Finances "Terrorist" Groups - Campaigners  

GENEVA (AFP)--Cigarette and tobacco smuggling is financing militant or extremist groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and sapping about $40 billion a year from government budgets, campaigners said Monday.

The allegations were made as 160 countries resumed talks at the World Health Organization on expanding an international antismoking treaty to clamp down on the illicit trade in tobacco. . . .

An alliance of some 350 anti-tobacco campaign groups said in a statement that concerted action against the contraband and counterfeit cigarettes trade would far outweigh the $40.5 billion in lost tax revenue.

Some 11.6% of the global cigarette market was illicit, equivalent to some 657 billion cigarettes a year, the International Union against Tobacco and Lung Disease estimated in a report.

Researchers also alleged that "half a dozen terrorist" or militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Hezbollah, left-wing FARC rebels in Colombia and the Real IRA in Northern Ireland, rely on black market tobacco for revenue.

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Cigarette smuggling funding Pakistan Taliban: campaigners 

Cigarette and tobacco smuggling is financing militant or extremist groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and sapping about 40 billion dollars a year from government budgets, campaigners said Monday.

The claims were made as 160 countries resumed talks at the World Health Organisation on expanding an international anti-smoking treaty to clamp down on the illicit trade in tobacco, AFP reports.

Apart from issues such as enforcement and coordination, the ten-day preparatory negotiations are also examining a possible halt to duty free sales of cigarettes or measures against Internet sales, WHO documents showed.

An alliance of some 350 anti-tobacco campaign groups said in a statement that concerted action against the contraband and counterfeit cigarettes trade would far outweigh the 40.5 billion dollars in lost tax revenue.

Some 11.6 per cent of the global cigarette market was illicit, equivalent to some 657 billion cigarettes a year, the International Union against Tobacco and Lung Disease estimated in a report.

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• Tobacco gurus brace for striking back 

Representatives of the tobacco industry are scheduled to meet the director general implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) here today (Thursday) to demand an extension in the January 1, 2010 deadline for incorporation of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs and outers, credible sources informed 'The News' here on Wednesday.

Rumours are also rife in health circles about the tobacco industry's intention to persuade the Ministry of Health against the use of shocking and fear-arousing photographs and to settle on graphics and images that are 'mild' and 'light' -- deceptive terms, which the industry itself prints on cigarette packs to mislead consumers and to promote the false impression that brands with such inscriptions offer lower tar exposure and risk, compared to other varieties. Such terms have the potential to influence health-concerned smokers to delay or prevent quitting.

The meeting will be attended by DG Implementation FCTC and head of the Tobacco Control Cell Shaheen Masud, health education advisor Mazhar Nisar, and Abdus Sattar Chaudhry. The tobacco industry will have its point of articulated by representatives of Pakistan Tobacco Company and Lakson Tobacco Company. . . .

If the World Health Organisation can prohibit its staff from meeting persons associated with the tobacco industry, why can't the Ministry of Health institute similar curbs? In an interesting development, one of the tobacco giants operating in Islamabad has appointed its 'tobacco guru' working in Indonesia, as the head of government and media relations in Pakistan to counter the blitz of negative media and continuing onslaught of the regulators against the tobacco industry.

The decision is said to have been taken in view of the company's frustration with the waning influence of retired senior bureaucrats working for it against hefty salaries.

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Govt committed to ensuring Tobacco-free environment: Minister 

Minister for Health Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani said Sunday the government was committed to providing Tobacco free environment at public places including government and private offices, restaurants, airports, railways stations. He was addressing at a seminar held to mark World No Tobacco Day jointly oraganised by Health Ministry and World Health Organization here.

The minister said all railway stations would be smoke‑free from July 1. After PIA, Pakistan Railways would be second public transport organization to become tobacco free, he added.

He said from January 1, 2010, all cigarette packs and the outlets would carry pictorial warnings. " We realize that with low literacy, people need to be pictorially warned of the health risks of smoking," he added.

The minister said that no tobacco company would be allowed to offer free goods, cash rebates, or discounts as a marketing incentive to cigarette buyers from July 1.

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• Landmark decisions for tobacco control 

The government reduced the tobacco industry to the size of a pygmy here Sunday by announcing immediate rollback of the controversial Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) on Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) and making the printing of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs and outers mandatory with effect from January 1, 2010.

The government also prohibited the tobacco companies from offering free giveaways, cash rebates or discounts as a marketing incentive. It also announced to make Pakistan Railways smoke-free from July 1, 2009.

Minister for Health Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani made these surprise announcements at a seminar organised in connection with World No-Tobacco Day 2009 (WNTD) here on Sunday. By doing so, the government not only added a golden chapter to the history of tobacco control efforts in Pakistan but also regained its lost glory in the international health community, which felt the pinch of the country's pro-tobacco industry posture just as much as anti-tobacco campaigners at home. . . .

Jakhrani also announced that all railway trains will be smoke-free from July 1, 2009.

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Immediate implementation of anti-smoking laws demanded 

Speakers at a symposium Saturday urged the government to enforce the anti-smoking laws in letter and spirit in order to protect people from the tobacco-related diseases.

The symposium was orgainsed by the NWFP chapter of the Pakistan Chest Society (PCS) at Lady Reading Hospital in connection with the 'World No Tobacco Day' being observed across the globe today (Sunday) to highlight the hazards of smoking.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Services Director Dr Fazle Qayyum, who is also the focal person for the tobacco control in the NWFP, said that presently around 2.2 million people in the country were smoking tobacco in various forms, while 1,200 new persons of the age 6-15 start smoking in Pakistan, which, he termed, an alarming trend.

He said they had to cut the tobacco demand by increasing awareness about the ill-effects of its use and impose heavy taxes on cigarette manufacturing companies. "Promotion of tobacco is promotion of diseases which is a violation of basic human rights," he added. . . .

He said that a multi-sectoral, integrated and coordinated approach should be adopted to save the young generation from the onslaught of tobacco industry's advertisement campaign.

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Tobacco-free trains initiative launched 

The Tobacco Control Cell of the Ministry of Health launched the tobacco-free trains initiative in connection with its various ongoing activities for World No-Tobacco Day.

Launched in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Railways, the initiative will lead to stringent measures being taken to prohibit smoking inside trains.

Divisional Superintendent Railways Jalaluddin Khan has declared all the 104 stations falling under his jurisdiction as tobacco-free.

"The Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance will be implemented in letter and spirit, and no one would be allowed to smoke inside the trains," Jalauddin pledged while speaking at a ceremony held at the Rawalpindi Railway Station here on Friday to mark the launching of the initiative. "Stern action will be taken against violators. Internal orders to this effect have already been circulated," he informed.

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Tobacco may claim 1b lives in 21st century 

In Pakistan, an estimated 40% males and 9% females are smokers and the percentage is increasing day by day while about 100,000 people die due to tobacco-related diseases such as cancers, heart attacks, strokes and many other serious diseases every year in Pakistan.

"Young people are aggressively targeted by the tobacco industry which spends billions of dollars each year marketing its products. Through advertising and promotional campaigns, including the use of carefully crafted package designs, the tobacco industry continues to divert attention from the deadly effects of its products," said Head of Community Medicine at Islamabad Medical & Dental College Dr Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry while talking to 'The News' in connection with World No Tobacco Day 2009 which is being observed today (on May 31) around the globe.

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'0.1m die yearly due to tobacco use' 

Pakistan should implement the existing anti-tobacco laws to protect people from the tobacco epidemic, recommended experts at a seminar organised by the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in collaboration with the Pakistan Chest Society (PCS), the National Alliance for Tobacco Control (NATC) and Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA) to commemorate World No Tobacco Day 2009 with a theme of 'Tobacco Health Warnings'.

They said that since Pakistan has signed the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, requiring signatories to post health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use on cigarette packets and recommending that pictures form part of the warnings.

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48% of youth in city are habitual smokers: Saghir 

In a message on 'World No Tobacco Day', Sindh Health Minister Dr Saghir Ahmed highlighted the various dreadful effects of smoking, focusing on the fact that it is the main cause of throat, chest and lung diseases.

He said that it was shocking to know that the trend of smoking in our youth is rising and according to a survey 48 percent of youth in Karachi were habitual smokers. The survey also shows that 24 percent male and 16 percent female college students of Karachi smoke regularly. The minister said that, according to estimates, around eight percent of habitual smokers turn to drugs and narcotics at some stage which is also alarming.

Dr Ahmed pointed out that smoking is also the main cause of chronic diseases

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• Pakistanis spend Rs1.2bn on tobacco every year 

Although tobacco is injurious to health, people in the country consume tobacco and its by-products worth Rs1.2 billion annually while the government has failed to take concrete steps to protect the masses from the health hazard involved in it.

This was pointed out by health professionals belonging to various medical organisations at a press briefing held on Friday at the Karachi Press Club in connection with World No Tobacco Day, being observed on May 31.

The briefing was organised under the aegis of the National Alliance for Tobacco Control.

The speakers called for effective tobacco control to save around 100,000 lives lost every year in the country to the diseases caused by tobacco use.

Dr Nadeem Rizvi, head of the JPMC chest diseases department, said that more than 50 per cent of deaths because of lung diseases could be prevented by eradicating smoking.

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NO-SMOKING ORDINANCE 

District Nazim Raja Javaid Akhlas has pledged to immediately reactivate the district committee for strict implementation of the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002 and launching a campaign against tobacco use in the city.

Expressing the city government's commitment to join hands with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) in the fight against tobacco use, Raja Akhlas said the measures would be taken in pursuance of the suo moto notice taken by the chief justice of the Supreme Court regarding poor implementation of the ordinance.

Akhlas was addressing an advocacy seminar organised by the Tobacco Control Cell in collaboration with WHO to mark World No Tobacco Day here at the Potohar Town Hall on Monday.

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