Tobacco cell: No regulatory body to implement tobacco laws

After devolution, fate of tobacco control cell hangs in the balance.

ISLAMABAD:

There is no regulatory body to implement anti-tobacco laws in Pakistan, a country where over 100,000 die of tobacco-related diseases every year.

After the devolution of the ministry of health under the 18th Amendment, the fate of the Tobacco Control Cell (TCC), established in 2007 to enhance tobacco control efforts in Pakistan, is also hanging in the balance.

In 2010, Pakistan earned the respect of the international community by introducing pictorial health warnings (PHWs) on cigarette packages, but just one year later, it earned the ignominy of being the only country in the world to have given up renewing PHWs on cigarette packs.

Sindh and Balochistan, however, introduced the new PHWs based on a draft SRO of the cabinet division, but later, the tobacco industry (TI) stopped renewing warning signs after the federal government stopped funding to the provinces, citing the ministry’s devolution.



Talking to The Express Tribune, an official in the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) said that the lack of seriousness on the part of the government to control tobacco could be gauged from the fact that the TCC has been functioning without permanent staff for the last two years.

After the devolution of the ministry of health, the TCC came under the ministry of inter-provincial coordination (IPC) and later under the cabinet division. However, instead of appointing a full-time implementation director-general in the cell, administrative control of TCC was given to the NHSRC director-general on October 14 this year.

The official expressed concern over a recent initiative taken by the ministry of the NHSRC by constituting a committee to formulate guidelines for a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertisements.

“The startling thing about the committee is that it includes a member from the tobacco industry, which is clear violation of the international framework convention on tobacco control (FCTC), of which Pakistan is a signatory,” said the official.

“This is completely against FCTC Article 5, which prohibits any interaction with the tobacco industry on public health legislation. It is also in direct contravention of the explicitly-stated opinion of the ministry of law and justice that says that the tobacco industry could not be made a voting member,” said the official.

NHSRC DG Dr Jahanzeb Aurakzai said that after the devolution, all government seats in the cell were done away with and at present, the cell was not a separate department. He said that he has recently been given the additional task to represent the cell at international forums on tobacco-related issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2013.