Health Warning on Cigarette Packs To Be Reduced
Health Warning on Cigarette Packs To Be Reduced: As World today marks NoTobacco Day, Philip Morris International Inc and British American Tobacco Plc asked Pakistan’s government to not implement bigger health warnings on cigarette packs, as part of their industry-wide campaign.
In Pakistan, where the government estimates tobacco kills more than 100,000 people a year, Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, through its local subsidiary, has sent Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi a letter and met Pakistani officials.
In February 2015, Pakistan’s health ministry announced it was changing an ordinance to increase health warnings on the front and back of cigarette packs to 85%. While these companies have asked the government to reduce health warning to 40% on cigarette packs.
The tobacco representatives argued that the bigger health warning would lead to more smuggling of black market cigarettes and a “decrease in revenue”, as per sources.
The industry argues here that cigarette packs become indistinguishable by brand or promised quality when the packaging is covered by disturbing images. As a result, it says, consumers are given incentives to turn to alternatives without the graphic pictures. Health advocates say warnings on packs reduce tobacco consumption.
Philip Morris sent a statement from Moira Gilchrist, its vice president of scientific and public communications. “Like any global company, PMI regularly speaks with governments all over the world on a wide range of subjects, including our efforts to replace cigarettes with smoke-free products,” Gilchrist said, referring to next-generation smoking devices that the company says significantly reduce the risk of disease by heating instead of burning tobacco.
A spokesperson for British American Tobacco (BAT) said in a statement: “like many companies, as part of our open and transparent engagement with governments, we regularly consult a wide range of representatives in health, trade, revenue, customs, agriculture and other relevant areas on a range of issues that affect our business. It’s important that any legitimate business should be able to engage with regulators, and contribute to the development of policy that impacts it.”
Muhammad Iqbal, a senior official at the country’s Federal Board of Revenue, told that his agency “has no role in the matter of health warnings to be printed on cigarette packs. It is up to Ministry of Health to make regulations on this issue.”
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