Doctors denounce govt parleys with tobacco industry

                                                                      IV File photo

Pakistan Chest Society says cooperation with cigarette firms violates public health commitments, urges higher tobacco taxes

IV Report

KARACHI: Even as concerns grow within the medical fraternity over continuing government engagement with tobacco companies, another meeting between representatives of an international cigarette manufacturer and federal authorities took place in Islamabad.

According to an official handout issued on Thursday, a delegation of Philip Morris International (PMI) called on Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan to discuss illicit cigarette trade, tobacco sector reforms, regulatory gaps and export potential.

The delegation was led by PMI President CIS & Central Asia Marco Mariotti, who briefed the minister on what it described as the growing scale of illicit cigarette trade in Pakistan.

According to the handout, the company claimed that a significant portion of the cigarette market remained undocumented, resulting in an estimated annual revenue loss of around Rs350 billion. It further stated that nearly 45 to 47 billion cigarettes were allegedly being sold without payment of taxes, creating what the delegation termed an uneven playing field for the formal sector.

The meeting also focused on structural issues in the tobacco supply chain, including procurement of tobacco leaf, under-reporting of production and weak traceability mechanisms.

                                                                                     Official photo

“The delegation pointed out that although registered companies operate under strict regulatory frameworks, undocumented production and misuse of contracts enable informal players to access raw materials and expand illicit manufacturing,” the statement added.

Federal Minister Jam Kamal Khan described the matter as a “multi-layered challenge” requiring coordinated action from farm-level production to retail enforcement.

He underscored the need for alignment between federal and provincial authorities, noting that effective regulation of tobacco cultivation and local markets required active provincial involvement alongside agencies such as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The minister also directed that proposals from stakeholders be consolidated into actionable recommendations aimed at strengthening enforcement, improving traceability and gradually reducing the informal economy, the handout concluded.

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PCS, Sindh chapter

Meanwhile, reacting to reports of proposed “economic cooperation” discussed between Philip Morris International (PMI) and the Ministry of Finance earlier this week, the Pakistan Chest Society (PCS), Sindh chapter, strongly criticised government engagement with tobacco companies.

“What kind of cooperation with the tobacco industry are we talking about?” asked Prof Javaid Khan, President of Pakistan Chest Society (Sindh).

“Every year in Pakistan, 180,000 people die from smoking. Tobacco money is tainted with the blood of those who die from tobacco-related diseases. How can we extend our hand and cooperate with them?” he said in a press release issued on Wednesday.

The society maintained that tobacco remained a leading cause of preventable lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart attacks and strokes in the country.

It also challenged the economic rationale for tobacco-sector engagement, citing estimates that healthcare costs linked to tobacco use amount to around Rs615 billion annually — substantially higher than the roughly Rs200 billion collected through tobacco taxation.

The PCS further argued that encouraging tobacco-sector investment would increase the burden of heart disease, lung disease and cancer, while adding pressure on foreign exchange reserves through imports of medicines, chemotherapy drugs and cardiac stents used to treat tobacco-related illnesses.

Referring to Pakistan’s obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the society said Article 5.3 of the treaty required governments to protect public health policies from the commercial interests of the tobacco industry.

The organisation urged the federal government not to accept investment from tobacco companies and instead strengthen tobacco control measures.

Among its recommendations were a minimum 30 per cent increase in tobacco taxes in the 2026-27 budget, rejection of policy input from tobacco companies under FCTC commitments, and mandatory consultation with the Ministry of National Health Services before any fiscal decisions relating to tobacco.

“The role of government is to protect people, not profits of an industry that sells death,” Prof Khan said. “We cannot shake hands stained with the blood of our patients.”