ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a landmark report that makes clear both the devastating scope of the global tobacco epidemic – it is the leading cause of preventable death in the world today – and the fact that it is entirely avoidable if nations implement proven solutions.  This report presents the first comprehensive picture of what the world’s nations are doing to address this public health crisis, and it demonstrates starkly that most nations are not doing nearly enough.  Only about five percent of the world’s population is covered by any one of the key interventions recommended by the WHO.

There are about 22 million smokers in the country and 55% of the households have at least one individual who smokes tobacco. As a result Pakistan accounts for a sizeable proportion of the cigarettes consumed in South Asia. Observations were made at different public places; including restaurants, offices, banks, public transport vehicles, commercial areas, cigarette selling outlets and educational institutions in major cities of Pakistan. Compliance to the tobacco laws was found to be the highest in banks, followed by offices, while the most violations were observed in public service vehicles.

The WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008, finds that tobacco use already kills 5.4 million people a year and the epidemic is worsening, especially in the developing world where more than 80 percent of tobacco-caused deaths will occur in the coming decades.  Unless urgent action is taken, one billion people will die worldwide from tobacco use this century.  

 “We have taken important steps forward in protecting the health of our citizens, but we know we must act now to do more,” said Khurram Hashmi, the coordinator of Coalition for Tobacco Control in Pakistan. “This important report gives us the roadmap we can use to reverse the tobacco epidemic and save lives.”

The Coalition for Tobacco Control - Pakistan (CTC-Pak) has been advocating for stronger measures for tobacco control by adaptation of FCTC provisions into national tobacco control laws and is currently working for the implementation of the tobacco control statutes in Pakistan encompassing mainly smoking at public places and underage selling while advocating for the development of those not addressed in the national tobacco control laws for example raise in taxation of tobacco products, pictorial warnings on tobacco packs and other supply side measures defined under FCTC.

The good news is that this epidemic is far from inevitable, and we know how to stop it. Based on science and experience, the WHO has identified six cost-effective solutions – called MPOWER in the report – that have been proven to reduce tobacco use:
1- Monitor tobacco use and assess the impact of tobacco prevention and cessation efforts;
2- Protect everyone from secondhand smoke with laws that require smoke-free workplaces and public places;
3- Offer help to every tobacco user to quit;
4- Warn and effectively educate every person about the dangers of tobacco use with strong, pictorial health warnings and hard-hitting, sustained media campaigns to educate the public;
5- Enact and enforce comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorships and on the use of misleading terms such as “light” and “low-tar;” and
6- Raise the price of tobacco products by increasing tobacco taxes.

All of the report’s recommended measures are scientifically proven, highly cost-effective policies that are part of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the international tobacco control treaty that became international law in 2005.  To date, 152 nations have ratified the treaty, but WHO finds that only five percent of the world’s population lives in a country that has adopted at least one of these anti-tobacco strategies. Pakistan has ratified the treaty.

“These are scientifically proven policies that can reverse the tobacco epidemic around the globe,” said Khurram Hashmi. “The tobacco epidemic is shifting to the developing world – due not only to population growth – but to the tobacco industry’s aggressively targeted marketing and promotion tactics.”

 “The global tobacco epidemic does not just affect the health of millions of people in Pakistan – it is also an economic threat that costs local and national economies billions of dollars each year,” said Khurram Hashmi.

Tobacco use disproportionately hurts the poor and deepens poverty by siphoning money needed for basic necessities such as food, shelter and education and killing wage earners in the prime of their lives.

While there is much work to be done, support for global tobacco control policies is gaining momentum.  Just this year, a growing number of countries have implemented strong smoke-free laws, including France, Turkey and Thailand.  And several countries, including Brazil, Thailand, Belgium, Australia and Canada have increased public awareness of the dangers of smoking by enhancing pictorial warnings on the packaging of tobacco products to increase smokers’ awareness of their risk.