SPDC highlights worsening tobacco epidemic

Business Recorder

25-04-2025

LAHORE: The Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC), a policy research institute has expressed serious concerns over the country's worsening tobacco epidemic, a crisis that continues to claim lives, burden the economy, and threaten the nation's future.
Each year, Pakistan suffers the loss of approximately 163,000 lives due to tobacco-related diseases. The economic impact is equally alarming, with tobacco-related health costs now exceeding $6 billion annually, SPDC said, adding: 'This staggering loss is almost 9 times higher than the second tranche of $700 million under the 2024 IMF Stand-by Arrangement, revealing the scale at which tobacco consumption is draining national resources — quietly, but consistently.'
As per data, nearly one in every five adults in Pakistan uses tobacco in some form, with the number of tobacco users estimated at over 30 million, including 17 million smokers. Even more concerning is the rising number of young smokers, with more than 1,200 children aged 10–14 reportedly taking up smoking each day.
This is a national emergency that demands sustained attention and policy action. The tobacco industry's ability to keep prices low and ensure widespread availability, especially in low-income communities and near schools, has fuelled the growth of this epidemic, experts said.
Speaking on behalf of SPDC, Asif Iqbal, Managing Director for SPDC, stated, 'Tobacco use is not just a personal health risk — it is a national development crisis. Every cigarette smoked chips away at our economic productivity, pushes families into poverty through health care costs, and shortens lives that could have contributed in some way to our society. The idea that cigarettes remain affordable while we lose thousands of lives each year is both tragic and unacceptable. Pakistan cannot afford the cost of inaction.'
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025