Health Ministry stresses raising tobacco taxes

Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Joint Secretary Dr Amir Sheikh on Wednesday stressed the need to review the existing tobacco tax structure in Pakistan and to develop an action plan to increase taxes on tobacco products in line with the recommendations of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

He expressed these views during a meeting of the technical working group on tobacco taxation. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Additional Commissioner Badruddin Ahmad Qureshi, Secretary Muhammad Zaheer Qureshi, Tobacco Control Cell Director Muhammad WaqasTarar, The Union Technical Officer Dr Fouad Aslam, World Bank Senior Health Specialist Dr InamulHaq, World Health Organisation Representative Shahzad Alam, Tobacco Control Cell Technical Coordinator Dr Ziauddin Islam and Project Coordinator Muhammad Javed attended the meeting.